Thousands of trade unionists went on strike and marched to New South Wales Parliament on May Day, International Workers’ Day, on May 1.
Big contingents of members of the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU), Electrical Trades Union (ETU), the NSW Plumbers Union (PTEU) and Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) formed the bulk of the crowd.
There were also contingents from the NSW Doctors’ Union (Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, ASMOF), NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association, Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) and other unions.
Speakers outside Parliament condemned Labor’s forced administration of the CFMEU as an “attack on all workers”.
Paul McAleer, from the International Transport Workers’ Federation, congratulated CFMEU members for joining the rally “despite the threats and intimidation”.
“We’re all here today to recognise their strength and their courage.”
ETU NSW leader Allen Hicks said Mark Irving, the Labor-appointed CFMEU administrator, should “hang his head in shame”. He said Irving had tried to discourage CFMEU members from joining the May Day march.
“We are never going to step away from our resolve and determination to put the CFMEU back in the hands of its members and get rid of this rotten administrator,” Hicks said.
With the federal election on May 3, speakers warned the Peter Dutton’s anti-union and anti-worker Coalition would de-register the CFMEU and further attack workers’ rights.
Class unity, for workers around the world, was emphasized as was the need to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Speakers also condemned the AUKUS military pact which set up conditions for a war on China.
CFMEU delegate Denis McNamara, who was sacked by the Labor-appointed administration, said unions must have the right to strike in solidarity with workers around the world. He said they also must have “the right to stand with Palestinians against Israel’s genocidal killings”.
sydney_may_day_pb.jpg
The need for unions to stand with First Nations people, and their fight for justice and sovereignty was emphasised. MUA Sydney branch secretary Paul Keating said: “This is their country, that was taken from them by the brutality of colonialism … There will be no justice for the working class until there is justice for First Nations peoples.”
Keating described May Day as both “an industrial action and a political statement of the working class”. He said hundreds of millions of workers would be marching around the world for May Day.
dr_mitch_hickson.jpeg
ASMOF leader Dr Mitch Hickson told the rally about the doctors struggle for better conditions and pay. He said doctors had not gone on strike since 1998 but, after 18 months of trying to negotiate with Chris Minns Labor, they were forced to go on strike.
He said it was his first time to strike, saying doctors are forced to work “brutal” shifts because of hospital understaffing. He said the NSW healthcare system is “deteriorating and falling apart” and Labor is refusing to address the crisis.
More than 250 workers gathered at the State Library in Naarm/Melbourne on May 1, Brandon M reports. Speakers recounted various international workers’ struggles and stressed the importance of working-class solidarity with First Nations peoples and the need for an organised working class to challenge the ruling class.
Speakers included members of , who spoke against forced administration, a United Workers Union activist, who spoke about the recent Woolies strike and Iranian activists who spoke against supporting dictators.
naarm_may_day_2.jpg.jpeg
naam_may_day.jpg
wollongong_may_day_wawan_5.jpg
wollongong_may_day_wawan_3.jpg
