Australia: May Day 2001 protest gathers support

At a meeting of the S11 Alliance (Melbourne) on 1 November a resolution was resoundly passed in support of organising for a mass demonstration and strike action on May Day 2001.

The aim of this demonstration will be to build on the success of the S11 protests to Shut Down the World Economic Forum, and other mass protests around the world (Seattle, Washington, Prague) against the institutions of Global Capitalism.

The motion, moved by the Democratic Socialist Party (Australia), calls for organising across Australia, and with trade unionists and activists across the Asia-Pacific Region, for an internationally focussed May Day.

Workers Power successfully argued that a central focus must be to call out trade unions to support the day of action on May 1.

In light of rank and file anger at the Trade Union leadership in Victoria over their lack of support for the S11 Blockade (and the following Police thuggery on S12), many trade unionists are keen to support the call for strike action.

We call on Trades Hall (Victoria), the Australian Council of Trade Unions and all Trade Unions to support the call for strike action on May 1.

Together – through the actions seen on September 11 and on the mass MUA (wharfies) pickets in 1998 – we can not only shut down the World Economic Forum, but we can smash the anti-unions laws which try to stop us from organising, and fight for the rights of all.

Forward to M1 2001!

• Smash all Anti-Union Laws - Fight for the right to organise!!
  
• Land Rights for Aborigines now! For the right of the Indigenous People's of our region to Self Determination
  
• Full citizenship rights for all migrants - abolish immigration controls
  
• Cancel the entire debt owed by nations to the banks: no delays, no conditions.
  
• And for massive aid - free, with no strings attached - to compensate developing countries for the plunder by multinationals and the G7 mega-states. Tax the multinational corporations to fund it
  
• Health, education and welfare for all - paid for by punitive taxes on corporate profits and the wealth of the super-rich and by the factories, businesses, funds, real estate and technology patents of the corporate giants
  
• Withdraw Australian Troops from East Timor and arm the East Timorese Themselves – Stop the major powers from bombing whole nations into the Stone Age by scrapping NATO and all imperialist military alliances
  
• For a democratically planned economy in which society's resources are owned by all, matching products to needs through mass electroniccommunication and popular control
  
• Fight Back Against Global Capitalism – Reclaim May Day!
  

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