Thousands turn out for Queensland May Day march

May Day marches in Queensland have long registered higher attendances than other states. This year was no different, as thousands of workers took to the streets of Brisbane on Sunday 4 May to mark the traditional day of the international working class.

This year also marked the second march since Campbell Newman moved the Labour Day public holiday from May to October. The move has been labelled “vindictive” by the Queensland trade union movement.

Despite Newman’s spit in the face, trade unions have continued to organise the annual march in May, not October. However, holding the march on a Sunday rather than the usual Monday public holiday has contributed to a drop in the turnout. Nonetheless, an estimated 10,000 unionists attended the march through the city, and many more rallied around the state.

The largest contingents belonged to the most active and organised unions such as the CFMEU, ETU, QTU and United Voice. Anti-Newman and anti-privatisation slogans dominated the banners of many union contingents whose members have been feeling the brunt of the LNP government’s cuts.

The crowd was addressed at the end of the march at the RNA Show Grounds by state Labor Party leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, who delivered a lacklustre speech. Palaszczuk offered little, making no commitment to improve things for Queensland workers. Her only promise was that if returned to government, her party would reinstate the Labour Day holiday in May.

The next day, despite threats from Fair Work Building and Construction, workers on construction sites in the city downed tools and rallied at King George Square to protest against state government attempts to restrict union access to sites. The mass action was a repeat of last year’s walk-off on the Monday after the May Day march. If the government tries to shift the Labour Day public holiday to October, then workers can and should take it back on its rightful date in May.

Dave Hanna, CFMEU Queensland president, told the workers assembled at the start of the march to take industrial action and shut sites down if bosses won’t let union reps in. “When he [a union rep] comes and tells you it’s time to walk off the job due to safety, you have to walk off and support yourselves to support the union to make sure that you keep a safe site.”

Unfortunately, despite the important stand taken by the unions against intimidation and for the right to have union reps on site, Bob Katter was also invited to speak to the crowd. He used his time to attack immigrants, refugees and 457 visa holders, who, he warned, were coming to take Australian workers’ jobs. Katter is an anti-working class bastard and was a minister in the conservative state government that smashed the ETU in 1985. He should never receive a platform at a union event. His racist politics are also anathema to the workers’ movement. His invitation to speak indicates that, despite occasionally militant speeches, important sections of the union movement don’t have a political strategy to build the sort of fight we need to beat back Newman.

However, May Day remains an important day for workers across the world. We need to argue against dead end strategies for the workers’ movement and build on the positive aspects of these mobilisations for the future. Marx’s famous words from 166 years ago ring loud and clear today: “Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains!”