IR Rally
Of course I went to the IR rally too! No one with a shred of humanity left in them could dare miss it… unless of course their boss wouldn’t allow it and were threatened with the sack!.. hmmm… Here are some pics posted by someone else:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/australian_left/98864.html?#cutid1
Melbourne was surely the place to be with the biggest demo in Australian history!!! However it was heartening to know that in all the rural centres and back o’ beyond, people were gathering in pubs and clubs to hear the live broadcast of speeches from all the pollies, union bosses and community leaders addressing the masses. Stories that people told of 1,000 people rallying in isolated places certainly had them stoked. But as for myself, I needed the ¼ odd million!
We were late in coming but got to hear all the speeches on the car radio on the way there which we often don’t catch on the ground. We walked a little bit into the crowd and stood there as the river of people, banners and flags began to sweep past. I felt like crying when I first arrived as I thought about what was being done to all of us and lamented the loss of that lovely social democracy that I grew up in. All that our grandparents fought for was now being pissed against the wall for low bloody interest rates. Goodbye free education, health care, community spirit… we want a big fat mortgage. Beazley got momentarily excited and promised to rip up the legislation but I wouldn’t hold my breath in anticipation of what that lazy slug might do. I’m sure he’s already sound asleep again.
My mood started to lift though as I started to get an inkling of the rally’s size. Standing still and watching it move past is one of my favourite ways of enjoying a rally and getting a sense of who is there and size of things. It also gives you a better chance of catching up with people and indeed I saw people from uni days. I must have stood there for at least 40 minutes but certainly long enough that I became mesmerised by the passage of protesters and was unable to concentrate on anything. Maybe some of that community spirit is not entirely lost.
Half a million people protested as reported by the media -maybe add a 100,000. I know that not everyone who can rally did. The unions have reported a surge in membership and the $50 million of tax payer cash spent on propaganda have not altered people’s inherent suspicion in lieu of actual details. But the main areas affected by the legislation appears to be:
Unfair dismissal - rights will be taken away from 3.7 million Australian workers who could be sacked unfairly and with no reason given.
Individual contracts - the Government wants to see more and more people pushed on to individual contracts. Under these laws there is no legal requirement for these contracts to protect people's take-home pay or to include important Australian workplace conditions like overtime pay, penalty rates, public holiday pay, meal breaks, redundancy pay etc.
Awards - Award conditions will not be guaranteed or 'protected by law'. In fact, what these laws will mean is that the award safety net is effectively gone.
Minimum wages - Minimum wages will no longer be set by the Industrial Relations Commission - that role will be given to a board appointed by a Government that has consistently said that minimum wages in Australia are too high.
Unions - The right of unions to visit workplaces will be restricted and unions can be hit with fines of $33,000 if they even ask for workers to be protected from unfair dismissal or individual contracts.
I just hope this is enough to get people thinking a bit more critically about “The Lying King” (My fave banner). The party’s over.
http://www.livejournal.com/community/australian_left/98864.html?#cutid1
Melbourne was surely the place to be with the biggest demo in Australian history!!! However it was heartening to know that in all the rural centres and back o’ beyond, people were gathering in pubs and clubs to hear the live broadcast of speeches from all the pollies, union bosses and community leaders addressing the masses. Stories that people told of 1,000 people rallying in isolated places certainly had them stoked. But as for myself, I needed the ¼ odd million!
We were late in coming but got to hear all the speeches on the car radio on the way there which we often don’t catch on the ground. We walked a little bit into the crowd and stood there as the river of people, banners and flags began to sweep past. I felt like crying when I first arrived as I thought about what was being done to all of us and lamented the loss of that lovely social democracy that I grew up in. All that our grandparents fought for was now being pissed against the wall for low bloody interest rates. Goodbye free education, health care, community spirit… we want a big fat mortgage. Beazley got momentarily excited and promised to rip up the legislation but I wouldn’t hold my breath in anticipation of what that lazy slug might do. I’m sure he’s already sound asleep again.
My mood started to lift though as I started to get an inkling of the rally’s size. Standing still and watching it move past is one of my favourite ways of enjoying a rally and getting a sense of who is there and size of things. It also gives you a better chance of catching up with people and indeed I saw people from uni days. I must have stood there for at least 40 minutes but certainly long enough that I became mesmerised by the passage of protesters and was unable to concentrate on anything. Maybe some of that community spirit is not entirely lost.
Half a million people protested as reported by the media -maybe add a 100,000. I know that not everyone who can rally did. The unions have reported a surge in membership and the $50 million of tax payer cash spent on propaganda have not altered people’s inherent suspicion in lieu of actual details. But the main areas affected by the legislation appears to be:
Unfair dismissal - rights will be taken away from 3.7 million Australian workers who could be sacked unfairly and with no reason given.
Individual contracts - the Government wants to see more and more people pushed on to individual contracts. Under these laws there is no legal requirement for these contracts to protect people's take-home pay or to include important Australian workplace conditions like overtime pay, penalty rates, public holiday pay, meal breaks, redundancy pay etc.
Awards - Award conditions will not be guaranteed or 'protected by law'. In fact, what these laws will mean is that the award safety net is effectively gone.
Minimum wages - Minimum wages will no longer be set by the Industrial Relations Commission - that role will be given to a board appointed by a Government that has consistently said that minimum wages in Australia are too high.
Unions - The right of unions to visit workplaces will be restricted and unions can be hit with fines of $33,000 if they even ask for workers to be protected from unfair dismissal or individual contracts.
I just hope this is enough to get people thinking a bit more critically about “The Lying King” (My fave banner). The party’s over.