Workers march against Howard (more photos) : Melbourne Indymedia

Martin Kingham from the CFMEU, as reported on the ABC, said that the rally was a huge success.

"Looks like 200,000 to me - the biggest industrial rally that I've ever seen in Melbourne," he said.

Bill Shorten, Australian Workers Union (AWU) secretary, said the rally was just the beginning of a campaign against the Howard Government.

"You asked what is the strategy for the next 700 days - the strategy is to fight - to fight in the workplace, to fight in the community, to fight in the media and to get rid of the Howard Government," he said.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that three workers who attended the rally in Mackay in Queensland, have been sacked by their employer, Adsteam Marine. Thousands of construction workers have also been threatened with disciplinary action including individual fines up to $22,000 for taking the day off to attend the rally, labelled as an "illegal" strike by Building Industry employers.

Today, by rallying in such huge numbers, we declare that working people will not be denied a central place in Australia's future.

Working families built this country. They fought and died for it.

They do not deserve to have their rights at work taken away.

The Government's laws are motivated by ideology - the articles of Liberal Party faith - the prejudices of the Prime Minister.

We face these laws simply because the Government has won control of the Senate and has the power to do what it wants.

And in the next couple of weeks the Government will abuse that power and ram these laws through.

When it does so it will not signal any set-back for our campaign.

Rather, it will signal the start of a determined, relentless effort to overturn these laws and put in their place decent rights for the working people of this country.

That is our goal.

You have already heard the main ways in which the laws attack worker's rights.

Let me give you some more specific examples.

Building workers have been especially targeted. They risk gaol for standing up for their rights.

I am concerned for them and their families.

The most important thing unions do on building sites is protect the safety of workers.

And yet the Government wants to smash the building unions.

It will put lives at risk.

I want the Prime Minister to know something right now.

We will hold the Government to account for the human cost of these laws.

Just as we supported the maritime workers when they were targeted, we will support building workers and their families.

All of us face risks under the new laws - even for doing bread and butter union work.

* It will be illegal to ask for workers to be protected against unfair dismissal when negotiating an agreement - and there's a $33,000 fine just for asking.
* And there will be a $33,000 fine for asking for union involvement in a disputes settlement procedure.
* A $33,000 fine for asking for the right for people to attend union education courses.
* A $33,000 fine for asking to protect jobs against contracting out.
* A $33,000 fine for asking for a commitment to collectively bargain.
* And a $33,000 fine for asking for anything else the Government might like to ban.

These are scandalous abuses of democratic rights.

But we will not be intimidated.

Unions must continue to stand up for people.

As a union leader let me make this clear.

I will not pay a $33,000 fine for asking for people to be treated fairly.

Because the Government has gone too far.

On such a fundamental issue we must look the Government in the eye and stare them down.

I will be asking other union leaders to do the same.

We must be disciplined and responsible. There is no place for foolhardy or reckless behaviour.

But we must also be firm in our resolve to stand up for people.

It is true that it will take time for some people to be affected by the laws.

But the rights of every person will be diminished.

And for many the change will come quickly - particularly the most vulnerable.

When these laws have done their job there will be only five minimum standards to protect people. The award safety net will be gone.

To get anything above the five minimum standards the Government wants you to negotiate an individual contract.

We all know what that means - take what's on offer or get lost.

No negotiation. No choice.

John Howard should have the guts to come out and say what he's really up to - to argue his case.

Instead the Government spends tens of millions on slippery, deceitful ads.

The claim that people's rights will be protected by law is the most expensive lie ever perpetrated in Australian politics.

It would be a mistake for anyone to be conned by their ads, to think 'I'll be alright - it won't happen to me'.

Even the best employers can be driven by competition to force down labour costs using individual contracts.

Why, during a 14 year economic boom with record business profits, do Australian people have to be put under this pressure?

We will never compete with China and India by driving down labour costs.

We will simply end up with an army of working poor and widespread inequality - a society like the United States.

That's not the sort of society unions want to see here.

A decent democracy should be improving opportunities for people, reaching out to those who need a hand, and ensuring that basic rights are protected - making Australia more fair not less.

Unions believe in fairness and justice, in prosperity for all not just the few, in people having a say at work.

We believe these are democratic rights - rights that are worth fighting for.

And fight we will.

We will fight until we win.

We will campaign for as long and as hard as it takes to overturn these laws.

Anyone who thinks our campaign will fade away had better think again.

These past months have only been the warm-up to the main event.

The real campaign starts now.

After the Government rams these laws through Parliament we will work right up to the next election to hold them to account for what they have done.

There are two key things we must achieve in this campaign.

Firstly, to build our strength in the workplace so that we can protect job security and pay and employment conditions.

Only by sticking together can we achieve this.

That is something within our power.

Because the laws cannot take away our commitment to each other.

If you're not in a union - join - and ask others to join - because the best protection will be achieved by standing together.

The second thing we must do is win the support of the wider community.

We must invite Australians to join a movement for change - not just a movement to achieve rights at work, but a movement for fairness and justice, a movement for democratic rights.

We must build a broad coalition of people committed to a better future.

Be part of it. Contribute in practical ways. Get involved by registering on our website or by filling out the postcard.

Help us raise funds so that we can take the experience of working people into every home with our advertising.

Ask others to do the same. Take the issues into your local community.

Lobby politicians. Get active in marginal seats.

Put at risk the job security of politicians who don't support worker's rights.

Help build a wall of opposition to laws that place business interests above family and community.

Because Australia needs to change.

We need to reward effort not exploitation.

To encourage cooperation not division.

To build a sense of community not isolation.

Compassion not intolerance.

To inspire hope not fear.

I believe that the values for which we stand beat as strongly in the hearts of Australians today as they have done for generations.

United by these values, we will not be defeated.

We will see off bad laws and bad Governments.

We will deliver justice for working people.

Let this great event, broadcast across the nation, the largest meeting of working people ever held in Australia, mark the beginning of a movement for change.

I am confident that if we have the courage to stand up for our values, to provide the leadership, to fight for our cause, to reach out to others and invite them to join us, we will win.

Marching for the right to serve...
for the right to suck corporate cock
for the right to work for crumbs
for the right to take stick from corporate masters

you're bought and owned
you're what makes the executive class possible
without you people there's no hegemony

The 'worker' is part of the problem.

Wake up. Have courage. Fight...
instead of bending over for Johnny Howard and the multinationals.

The Union mooooment is pathetic... you're BUILDING the ivory towers...

your inferiority complex appears be very deep seated..

Do you actually believe the moneymen are smarter than you are?

You have my undying contempt.

It is very nice to see that the dirty scum who are employed by various police forces to disrupt indymedia are today reduced to the most pathetic and powerless whimperings. Slimy and offensive still, but powerless.

The big rally has changed our city and today the class enemy is afraid of us.

Tomorrow they will organise to attack us again, but today we look at history and smile remember we are WORKERS

death to the corporation= the end of 'work'

The unions are in bed with the pigs, the Government, and the executive class.

Without the sad little 'workers' hauling their carcasses in to serve their wealthy masters
the whole system falls over.

It's the privileged, comfy, materialistic WORKERS that are sustaining the capitalist system.

Walk away instead,
show a little self-respect

and fuck the corporates
instead of voluntarily allowing yourselves to be fucked

Little David, screaming from the sidelines while one of the biggest fightbacks in Australia's history marches past him. He's so angry that he doesn't know what he's angry about – certainly not about a rally of proud workers. So David: go get some therapy, while we around the world applaud signs of hope where we find them: oil workers in Iraq, Venzuela's path towards socialism, the Australian fightback.

'proud' to be working for the man?

what does what's happening in Venezeula have to do with Australia's pathetic piss-weak workers?

Nothing.

Venezuela is saying 'fuck you' to capitalism

The unionists say
'please fuck our soft bottoms'

Are you insane, David?
Have you for one second considered that there are material constraints on people's lives? Yes, workers support the system of capitalism, but it is utterly insane to just declare your contempt for them while imploring them to "walk away". What exactly does that mean, anyway? Does it mean quit their jobs? And then what? Stop eating too, because that's just materialistic?
Even if "walking away" were possible, it would require a spontaneous action by the entire working class. And that is utopian. No wonder your only logical conclusion is a disgusting, scab-like contempt. You are an elitist philistine.

Yes, to revolution, and most importantly, yes to an actual programme that is intelligent enough to see how that can come.

And for the record, socialism has to come from below - Venezuela, while being a progressive struggle, has not shaken off it's social-democratic, or reformist hangups. Maybe Chavez will find a place in the revolution, but the state must be smashed by the workers for that to happen.