Hedgehog, At least Tao is going to the IR marches, which is great.
You may not agree with all i have said Tao, but going to the march and taking all your friends and family along is a good thing.

I will see you all June 28......

Yes thats true,at least he/she is marching. Eventually workers are going to have to do more than march twice a year. I do love the French approach. Or maybe Combet should get arrested to wake the punters up.

Hedgehog, The sooner Greg Comet announces National strike action the better.

hedgehog,
I'm with you comrade, the French reaction to theit Industrial laws should have been repeated here. The average Aussie, must think the conditions they used to enjoy were heaven sent, no employer ever gives an employee a pay rise or an extra condition unless the union members have fought, and fought hard for it.

The stouches in the 1950's it seems were all for nought, as weak subservient employees of today sell hard won conditions for practicly no financial gain, in fear of the sack. If only they realised that if they stood together, they would win. Bosses are mainly cowards, I have stood against them and after token resistance they crumble, if the "left" thinkers were united within the ALP, instead of being splintered in the Socialist Alliance, the Green Left and so on, we would have the numbers to change the ALP to the correct direction. Politics is a numbers game, without the numbers nothing can be achieved.

National strike? are you aware that is what Howard wants?to both bankrupt the union movement and tell the public unions are out of control?
Can you not be aware of why the churches are involved in this fight?, this is as close as Australian workers will come to the French protests.
Sorry but for far too many its easyer to do nothing than to act.
Day/week of protest? its 24/7 every minute of every day, at 3 am this morning the last of 180 newsletters left my desk awaiting posting.
Letters from members children to Howard, and the press, it can be that easy to get involved.
Before this is editored and some posts are , workchoices is so unfair ,so cruel to the working poor, its warfare on them.
Vicimised by a goverment that refuses to look at the outcomes for so many already poor.
Never to own a home or shares never to retire to the coast always to be broke?
Tao! get your self into a union! and the ALP! NO ONE ELSE CARES.
And hedghog I happen to think only my faction of the party is electable, not point scoreing against you just my view held in good faith.
Now good ideas and policys will aways come from the partys left often our anchor to our reason for existing.
I am afraid for all who work in Australia, why would we create a working poor in an effort to create wealth?
Is world trade worth it if this is the needed result?
One day we trade unionists, if only we cared enought for those we exist for could be one union! all factions remain but one union.

hedgehog,

I’ll ask the question again. Which part of what I have said is not true? Do you agree that capitalism is hostile to the interests of working people, and should be overthrown?

The unions will never call a national strike because they would be too scared that they won’t be able to control it - just as Bob Hawke didn’t call a national strike when Whitlam was dismissed, a national strike wasn’t called when Hawke and Keating drove through their “reforms”, a national strike wasn’t called over the waterfront dispute, or when Workchoices was in the offing. No – the unions will leave it up to individuals to take the risk – while they pocket their paychecks from the collective contributions of their members. Disgusting.

I won’t be at the march on June 28 because I will be on holiday. Even if I weren’t on holiday I probably wouldn’t be there because I have a new job in a small business and taking a day off to march would probably not go down too well.

I suspect there are a lot of people in a similar situation to me, who simply can’t take the risk, or won’t because they see that there are no benefits to be gained because the leadership – the unions and ALP – offer no real alternative perspective. They will simply call again for us to vote ALP at the next election and we will have to hope and pray that the ALP (a) gets its s#&t together and wins and (b) actually repeals the laws when it does. Both scenarios are pretty unrealistic. And for this non-result we give up a days pay and risk our jobs. The main reason I went to the last two was to hand out information for the Socialist Equality Party, not because I thought the protests would have any effect. And they didn’t - the law is in and won’t be going anywhere.

You are right when you say that eventually workers are going to have to do more than march twice a year. But what?