Mass Action

It was the biggest stopwork meeting in Australian history. More than half a million working men and women, family and friends on the streets and almost that many again in pubs and clubs in regional centres around Australia -- all taking part in a national wide television hook-up. And maritime workers were at the forefront.

Mackay MUA tug operators were ready to be working class martyrs, defying th e threat of the sack to take a stand for workers' rights. (see back page) Nationwide the wharves shut down along with vehicle production lines, factories, schools, building sites and public service offices, mines and al l major shipping terminals.

Australian Industrial Relations commissioner Brendan Eames rejected an application by McCain Foods to prevent its employees joining the rally. Th e protest was, in the words of the industrial umpire, "proper and vital".

In Melbourne as many as 200,000 people braved cold and drizzle to fill Federation Square - the biggest rally since the Vietnam Moratorium marches of the sixties and seventies.

In Sydney a record thousand strong MUA contingent of close on 1000 joined a n estimated 30,000 protesters who wove through the CBD to Chifley Square outs ide the notorious Boeing offices.

In Brisbane, Opposition leader Kim Beazley marched alongside 30,000 protest ers and civil rights activists, with another 20,000 filling the streets of Fremantle and Adelaide.

In Devonport 300 workers rallied while in Hobart, Burnie, Launceston and co untry towns another 6,000 workers and community members joined the protest.

Nor were the protests confined to Australian centres. Across the Tasman hundreds of New Zealand workers rallied outside Australian diplomatic missi ons in Auckland and Wellington where MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin addre ssed the crowd and spoke out against the Howard Government on national radio, wa rning New Zealanders the new laws would impact on them too.

In Washington DC members and supporters of the American Federation of Labou r rallied in front of the embassy, while in Manila, KMU union federation memb ers held protests under the Australian flag accusing the Australian Government of labour terrorism.

Letters of solidarity also came from the The Panhellenic Seamen's Federat ion, the All Japan Seamen's Union and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union Inc.