Police have clashed with striking construction workers in Melbourne. The strikers have been blockading entrances to a $250 million construction project for the last week.
Violence erupted early yesterday morning, after mounted police tried to disperse around 400 picketing workers in order to ensure that scabs were able to get on site.
The picket was larger than usual, as they were joined by workers from other sites and sectors across Melbourne.
The workers are fighting for the right to have named shop stewards on site, and to stop the practice of the company bringing in cheap labour that undercuts industry standards.
A spokesman for the bosses said that:
“The strike is illegal, and those on the picket line are waging a campaign of intimidation against other company employees”.
Several union leaders have been banned from entering the construction site due to an injunction from the Supreme Court. The company also has banned employees from displaying union stickers or badges.
Solidarity with the Melbourne construction workers.
Comments
Good article, thanks for
Good article, thanks for writing it up.
A short sub editing note, the "violence" tag is for theoretical articles about political violence. For news articles about violent events we use the "repression" tag or "riots" tag as appropriate for future reference!
More infos here, the most
More infos here, the most interesting part begin the abundant quotes:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/jundreds-of-construction-workers-in-grocon-city-protest/story-fnd2zcc1-1226459864290
Congratulations to the
Congratulations to the workers for standing up to violent police - and corporate - repression. This is an inspiration to all people who are subjected to systematic abuse. The violent assault by the police on innocent workers who were trying to exercise their right of peaceful assembly ought to be condemned. If it were young students who were less organised and less physically strong the police would have not retreated. This just shows how gutless police are when they realise that their intended victims can fight back.