Today at the IR Rally in Melbourne approximately forty members of the "General Strike Block Fiesta" met at the Bourke St Mall to call for a General Strike and a real campaign of industrial action to defeat the IR Laws.
A nice position was found for the block in front of the stage. They carried placards such as "General Strike", "More strike - less talk", "It worked in France - strike!". As we waited for the rally to begin we warmed up with drums, whistles and chants. Various soccer chants and even the odd Cliff Richard song were adapted into calls for a General Strike. Soon the rest of the marches arrived and along with them came a veritable sea of ALP and Union Leadership hacks. Bracks, Burrows and Beazley all took to the stage to lecture the crowds on how voting for the ALP at the next election is their only hope of salvation. Throughout these speeches members of the block heckled and kept up their chants for a General Strike. This succeeded in bringing the wrath of various slick and scary looking “Young Labor” types who attempted to cover our signs from the cameras with their ALP signs, manhandling a few of the block and telling us to “get a job” and other sophisticated strategies. One hack told me to shut up during Brack’s lame speech on the grounds that it was a “privilege to hear the Premier”. Despite this harassment and the wave of ALP electioneering from the stage ourspirits remained strong.