Picket kicks an early goal against toll road

“Mr. Napthine, I’m not moving! I was born here. I will die here, in Collingwood!”, vowed Keith Fitzgerald, standing in front of a rally of 300. Protesters gathered in Fitzroy on a rainy Sunday morning 13 October to oppose the monstrous $8 billion East-West Link that threatens to scar Melbourne’s inner north.

Keith is one of around 250 residents who have received notice that their homes may be compulsorily acquired to make way for the toll road. He has been at the centre of the fight against the state government’s plans. News footage of Victoria Police knocking the 70-year-old to the ground at a community picket has helped galvanise others.

The campaign scored its first victory when daily picketing forced the Linking Melbourne Authority to halt test drilling. Eight sites had initially been flagged for testing, but to date only four have been worked on.

A diverse assortment – from retirees to high school students – has braved early morning chills and police aggression to disrupt the drilling.

The campaign is demanding that the Victorian ALP, should it win next year’s state election, tear up any contracts entered into by the Napthine Liberal government. So far, while mouthing opposition to the tunnel, it has refused to make any commitment.

The demand is accompanied by a call for the Victorian Trades Hall Council and the union movement to back the campaign. Right now the balance sheet is mixed. The United Firefighters’ Union has given support, whereas construction unions (CFMEU, ETU, AWU) have backed the project, arguing it will create jobs for their members.

But quality union jobs are far from guaranteed. The developers vying for the project (John Holland, Lend Lease) have a history of hostility to workers and their unions. The way to build stronger unions is through a culture of solidarity that extends to all those who stand to suffer from corporate greed. Doing this, unions might in turn receive the broad support that will be needed in their own struggles. The example of the Builders Laborers Federation of the 1970s is one to follow.

As the campaign moves into a new phase targeting the companies short-listed to build the tollway, gaining union support will be crucial. Already there are signs of working class support – the steady stream of truck drivers honking in support of the picketers, or the building workers who refused to give bolt cutters to police trying to break through the campaign picket.

Although it is possible that developers will try to restart test drilling, it seems now that that phase of the campaign is at an end. The next stage is just beginning.