Published: 19 Apr 2016
The Australian Trade Union movement rallied outside Parliament House in Canberra against the Turnbull Government, yesterday morning.
Yesterday as the Senate rejected the ABCC, unionists from across the country gathered to display their anger at the Liberal Government’s anti-worker regime.
The protestors posed a series of questions to Turnbull, highlighting the inequality his government is enforcing on the Australian community.
As the crowd demanded answers, they made themselves highly visible, sporting black t-shirt with white question marks. The protestors were surrounded by a sea of life size banners.
These banners read:
What about our jobs?
What about our pensions?
What about tax dodgers?
What about Federal ICAC?
What about Gonski?
What about our penalty rates?
What about our TAFEs and Unis?
Yesterday’s protest coincides with the 8th week of the Aus Job Embassy, which is part of MUA’s fight to protect Aussie jobs. The Aus Job Embassy, is currently being hosted by the South Australian Branch with the support and involvement of Tasmanian Branch members.
MUA’s Assistant National Secretary, Ian Bray addressed the crowd and gave a powerful speech about Turnbull’s attacks on job security.
“Why Malcolm, in the last three years, have you created a society of exclusivity for the rich, while the rest can be damned? Why Malcolm are you ignoring the high youth unemployment in this country, while systematically closing down the training institutions that give them the chance to get jobs and careers?”
This event also provided the MUA with an opportunity to further campaign around the plight of Australian seafarers.
Dale Eaton and Zach Kinzett told their story about getting kicked off the MV Portland and being replaced with foreign workers earning as little as $2 per hour.
Meanwhile while this event was taking place, unionists were at the forefront of a social media storm. People from all over the country were bombarding Turnbull with their questions via Twitter. The #questionsformalcolm hashtag amassed over 15,000 tweets yesterday with a reach of over 1 million people demonstrating that the Australian community wants answers from our PM.
The union movement has given Turnbull no where to run or hide. We are outside his office and we are on social media making him take responsibility for his inaction over jobs and his attacks on our living conditions. We will continue our fight for justice and jobs closely targeting the Liberal government in the lead up to the Federal Election.
