Newcastle workers march on Spotlight : Melbourne Indymedia

After speeches from union and community leaders, which included the Catholic Bishop for the Hunter region, the crowd of unionists and supporters streamed out of the club into King street, marching down to a local Spotlight store.

Spotlight has come under media attention for putting new staff on Australian Workplace Agreements, and asking existing staff to sign AWAs which effectively cut up to $90 per week in pay and working conditions. The brothers who own the Spotlight store are ranked equal 86th in Business Review Weekly’s Rich 200 list.

When the march arrived outside Spotlight, people were still leaving the Panthers Club. Further speeches occurred outside Spotlight with exortations to vote the Labor Party back into office in upcoming NSW elections to preserve the state industrial relations systems which still provides some protection to some state award based employees.

Newcastle Trades Hall Council secretary Gary Kennedy said the new laws have hit Hunter workers hard.

Some local rank and file and community activists have been holding an intermittent picket outside Spotlight to focus community attention on their attack on employee conditions. In a town like Newcastle with a strong working class history, a picket of Spotlight can be an effective catalyst of mobilising wider community opposition to individual contracts and the Howard Government.

==Around Australia==

Around Australia hundreds of thousands of people rallied and marched against 'WorkChoices', the Howard Government's radical industrial relations laws which are reducing pay and working conditions through the use of Australian Workplace Agreements. According to the ACTU The largest turnout was in Melbourne, with around 150,000 people rallying in the centre of the city at the corner of Bourke and Swanston Sts. Regional Victorian protests occurred in Ballarat, Geelong, Hamilton, Portland, Warrnambool and Wodonga/Albury.

In Sydney 40,000 people attended the main rally in the outer suburb of Blacktown. In regional NSW beside the 6,000 in Newcastle and 7000 in Woollongong, protests occurred in Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Goulburn, Lismore, Nowra, Tweed Heads, Tamworth, Queanbeyan and Wagga Wagga.

In Brisbane 25,000 heard speeches from QLD IR Minister Tom Barton, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet and ALP Treasury Spokesperson Wayne Swan. A further 7,000 attended a rally on the Gold Coast and protests were also held in Gladstone, Rockhampton, and Townsville.

Other rallies included 10,000 in Adelaide, 20,000 in Perth, 2000 in Launceston, 500 in Darwin.

Sources:
Workers' Protests Across Australia Send Message to Howard Govt On IR Laws
http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights/news/1151474185_9830.html