Workers rally against Industrial Relations law : Melbourne Indymedia

In Sydney, a rally comprising "a genuine cross-section of the Australian community", and estimated by the ABC's reporter at "maybe 40,000", met at Belmore Park before marching though the city to Chifley Square to hear speakers against Howard's law.
An exuberant and very noisy march left observers in no doubt as to their resolve. At one point, there was an unnecessary diversion when some of the marchers taunted the visiting Uruguayan footballers, who were watching the procession in George Street.
A single handwritten banner, "Say NO to working poor", summarised the thrust of the new legislation, which Victoria's Premier Bracks declared had been the lot of many workers following the regressive legislation in that state by the former Kennett government.
The new laws have been an obsession of Prime Minister Howard for many years, and, contrary to its stated intention—to usher is a new era of "choice" in the workplace—promise to ignite more nation-wide protests from unions, who see the legislation as stripping away a century of hard-won rights for workers.
Opposition leader Kim Beazley promised a Brisbane rally, estimated by ABC reporters at about 10,000, that, if elected, he would "stand on the steps of Parliament and rip these laws up".
ACTU President Sharan Burrow told the Melbourne rally, which unions put at 150,000 to 200,000 (ABC Midday News), that the unions were defending "values that shape the way we care about each another". "We must not be the first generation of Australians who leaves our kids with fewer rights at work than we inherited, and we won't", she said.
(See photos of Sydney rally as separate upload)