[Fwd: Unions at S11]

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Do comrades from Australia have any comments on
this, or additional information?

Carrol

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Unions at S11
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 11:56:42 -0700
From: Lisa & Ian Murray <seamus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: lbo-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: "Lbo-Talk@Lists. Panix. Com" <lbo-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

[from
http://www.greenleft.org.au/globalaction/s11/daily/000912_07_union.shtml
]


Mass union march a heavy blow to WEF
BY SEAN HEALY (Tuesday September 12, 2000, 3pm)
MELBOURNE ? Tens of thousands of Melbourne unionists have delivered a
stunning blow to the legitimacy of the World Economic Forum and
corporate
globalisation, filling city streets with noise, colour and people.

The workers have also rebuffed WEF attempts to paint the protesters as
?violent? by marching directly to the blockade?s main base on
Queensbridge
Road from Trades Hall in Carlton.

The marchers filled Swanston Street in downtown Melbourne, marching past
the
Nike superstore chanting ?Stop global sweatshops? and ?The workers
united
will never be defeated?, before not only filling Queensbridge Road but
also
most of the nearby bridge across the Yarra River.

Official estimates by Trades Hall put the crowd at 10,000, which seemed
considerably understated.

The S11 Alliance had agreed to allow Trades Hall use of its stage for a
platform, which featured some of the Australian union movement?s most
prominent leaders, including the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of
Australia?s Michelle O?Neill, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and
Energy
Union?s John Maitland and ACTU president Sharan Burrow.

While rally organisers led loud chants of ?Fair trade, not free trade?,
both
the sentiment from the massive crowd and the speeches from the platform
were
relatively free of protectionist tinge and full of support for the
struggles
of workers in the Third World.

Indonesian union leader Romawaty Sinaga, the international officer of
the
FNPBI, received an especially warm reception. ?We want Australian
workers to
support Indonesian workers. We need your solidarity. We all, workers in
Australia and workers in Indonesia, have common interests in stopping
these
people,? she said angrily, pointing at the conference venue across the
road.

O?Neill expressed similar sentiments, saying ?It?s not good enough to
say,
we want to save the jobs of Australian workers. We want that, but this
rally
is about fighting for the rights of workers around the world. We cannot
fall
into the trap of nationalism and racism.?

The rally has been called ?an enormous morale boost for all the
committed
blockaders down here? by S11 Alliance spokesperson Cam Walker.

The issue of how much the union movement would support S11 has been
contentious, with Trades Hall believed to be under considerable pressure
from the ACTU and the Victorian Labor government to distance itself.

This tension was clear at the rally. Australian Greens Senator Bob
Brown,
for instance, told the union rally that he backed the blockade and that
nothing was achieved until people stepped off the pavement and onto the
street.

But Trades Hall secretary Leigh Hubbard held to the position that the
labour
council would only support the protests and not the blockade, evoking an
angry response from more militant union members at the rally?s end.

Many unionists ignored Trades Hall?s injunction, however, and several
thousand marched around the casino before joining the blockaders at
different entrances.