Some Local skirmishes in the class struggle : Melbourne Indymedia

Friday May 4th Union Solidarity folks at a community protest were run down by a crane-truck out at Kilsyth by a psycho Boss named Anthony Elliott.
for backgrond see: http://www.unionsolidarity.org

AE has locked out his workers for 33 weeks at Yallourn in La Trobe Valley, set up dodgy shell companies MEC etc but finally after yesterdays little effort where he also crashed the cop car has been charged (at last!) AE drove along Canterbury Road with the deliberate intention of removing those still attached to his crane truck on bushes he swerved into.

Will be interesting to see how the "Fair' legislation updated by backfooting Howard and proposed by Another Liberal party will be relevant to this case of classic unfair Bossy boots behaviour !

Later yesterday the UnionSoli folks went to confront Howard at a Scout Hall being fitted with a water tank.....
When one of the Union Soli crew pointed out that the roof which would collect the water was asbestos.... and that it would be better to fund removing the hazardous material roof and replace it with a safer material for the kids
Howard's minders got a bit unsettled and Howard was moved on.

Howard showed up in the City to announce his nicer fairer masked workplace laws for the Election and once again UnionSoli and a large contingent of Nurses heckled him in a community building and celebrating effort -well done to all who rocked up.

Finally last night at the Atherton Gardens estate in Fitzroy an anti-fascist festival was celebrated with music food and community building after recent attacks on the resident's community by thugs, politicians and media hyped shock horror exposes.

Today Saturday there is a local UnionSoli event with locals out at Altona where a proposed heliport will be set to land 100 metres from residents backyards and fly the damned things across a wetland with heaps of birds and an endangered butterfly habitat - if people and birds struggle with the wind off the helicopter what would a butterfly be blown about like ?

Source of above news Solidarity Breakfast show on Radio 3CR talk-back 8.30am today. 3CR's annual fundraiser is on again in June and we need to consolidate this great community resource where else can you hear unionists and community activists speaking up for themselves and not cut up by Corporate and Government interests (if ever heard at all!) see http://www.3cr.org.au

Now for a song kids:

New Legislation

A Song by Catherine O'Brien and Allan Caswell©Catherine O'Brien and Allan Caswell 2007

http://bmuc.blogspot.com/2007/05/new-legislation-song-by-catherine.html

chorus:
freedom of choice with a gun to your head
your right to work hard until you drop dead
or we'll get some other fool in here instead
'cos we got this new legislation

the secretary's future doesn't look great
the boss says she showed up for work an hour late
besides she refused to go out on a date
and he's got this new legislation

the 4th year apprentice he's done well at tafe
he's worked real hard to make his future safe
but we've got to downsize son so you're on your way
cos we got this new legislation

your union card won't do you favours round here
cos we've smelt your breath and we think we smelt beer
and if you discuss it son you're outa here
cos we got this new legislation

we wouldn't say darlin' that you're overweight
we think you're lovely your work has been great
but we're all out of uniforms except for size eight
cos we got this new legislation

overtime's over the contract is signed
penalty rates mate are all in your mind
cos we've got your arse now on our bottom line
cos we got this new legislation

your right to life's over as soon as you're born
24 seven we've got you on call
your time's now our time that's no crime at all
cos we got this new legislation

what we said last year mate we can't recall
and that mutual agreement wasn't mutual at all
cos we made the small print incredibly small
and we got this new legislation
______________________________________

Many thanks to Cathie O'Brien and Allan Caswell for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection.

Cathie and Allan met up one evening to write a song about the WorkChoices laws passed by the then John Howard Australian Government and its repercussions on the average worker.

They wrote the song from a social justice and Human Rights perspective.

Visit Cathie's website at: http://www.catherineobrien.com/

Visit Allan's website at: http://www.shoestringrecords.tv/Singersongwriterseries/allancaswell/caswellindex.html

Protesters were lucky to escape with their lives this morning as two trucks driven by an aggressive employer rammed a community protest in the Melbourne suburb of Kilsyth. In full view of the police, a senior manger of the Elliott Group drove a semi trailer through the crowd.

The semi trailer side swiped a police car causing minor damage. But four protesters were left clinging to the front of the truck fearing for their life. Unable to either move out of the way, or get off the truck, they were forced to hold on whilst the driver took off reaching speeds of up to 60 km per hour. The frightening ride was only stopped by pursuing cars that stopped the truck over 2 km away.

Whilst driving through the crowd the boss had also opened his door and kicked at least two protesters from the cabin. The demonstrators has discussed with the police when they arrived at the Kilsyth plant and told them that they wanted to protest peacefully and hand workers and truck drivers leaflets as they came in and out. The police had agreed to this saying that it was a democratic right to protest.

After the incident one police officer told protesters that the driver was a “dangerous fruit cake”. Other police officers told protesters that they would be charging him with at least assault and leaving the scene of an accident. They were also considering the more serious charges of dangerous driving and using a vehicle as a weapon.

The protesters we demonstrating against the Elliot Group, who owe workers thousands of dollars in lost entitlements. The company has refused to pay 48 maintenance workers in the Latrobe Valley who have been locked out and sacked by Elliot Engineering (trading as MEC).

The lock out began in September last year and has now been going 33 weeks. It was triggered after unions took protected industrial action against the company during a dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement. MEC was placed into administration and the employees who refused to return to work under Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) were later sacked. Under the ‘Work Choices’ legislation, because there was a transmission of business, MEC does not legally have to pay out what was accrued by the previous owner.

One of the former employees, John Scholtes, said outside a recent court case that “the workers would continue their protest at the gates of MEC until they received their full entitlements. We are still here protesting until we get what’s owed to us.”

It was reported on page 6 of the Finacial Review today that the driver of the truck (Anthony Ellioit, 33 of Wonga Park) is likely to be charged with reckless conduct endangering life, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and dangerous driving.
We in the labour movement need to make sure the police follow through with this threat.

33 weeks locked out
support the Yallourn Embassy

Telephone 0351 335 7684

PO Box 918
Morwell Victoria

Look out for the orange La Trobe Valley unions caravan at May Day
from midday onwards outside Trades Hall
Lygon Street Carlton South
on Sunday May 6th 2007

more info: Donation Request Form
http://gippslandtlc.com.au/

http://www.unionsolidarity.org/irnews/labels/MEC.html

MEC Yallourn Dispute
Latrobe Valley Express 19.04.06
• Court backs former workers' right to protest
• Standing Firm

A court bid by Mechanical Engineering Corporation to ban former employees from protesting outside the company's Yallourn Workshop has failed...more | Court Transcript
Latrobe Valley Express 5.03.07
• How did MEC set up in the Valley?
• Council Incentives

Latrobe City Council helped Mechanical Engineering Corporation (MEC) establish its Yallourn workshop it has been revealed...more
MEC workers: six month lock-out
The 49 locked out workers from Elliott group's MEC Engineering continue to maintain a six-month 'protest embassy' to fight for their jobs and entitlements...moreGTLC Media Release 21.02.07

* MEC - History of Deceit

The Gippsland Trades and Labour Council calls on both State and Federal Government to change legislation...more
Latobe Valley Express 18.01.07

* MEC employees left with difficult decision, Sign Up or Leave

Employees locked out of Mechanical Engineering Corporation's Yallourn workshop will be forced to return to work under individual contracts or they may lose their jobs permanently...moreGTLC Newsletter No3 28.11.06

* Yallourn Workshop Embassy News

Latrobe Valley Express 6.11.06

* Workers, MES refuse to budge in industrial row
* Dispute Stalemate

The industrial dispute at Mechanical Engineering Services' Yallourn workshop has been labeled a 'ping pong' match after workers were again locked out on Friday...more
Green Left Weekly 8.11.06
by Sue Bolton

Locked out Yallourn workers need solidarity
Forty-nine workers at the largest workshop in the Latrobe Valley have been locked out for almost three months by Mechanical Engineering Services (MES). As soon has he'd locked out the workers, the company owner, Anthony Elliot, went overseas for several weeks...moreLatrobe Valley Express 26.10.06

* Workers turn tables on workshop dispute

Workers at the Mechanical Engineering Services workshop in Yallourn have defied an order to return to work and are now out on strike...moreGTLC Newsletter No 2 23.10.06

* Yallourn Workshop Embassy News

Latrobe Valley Express 16.10.06

* Unions hope for MEC peace deal

Workers locked out of their Yallourn workshop by engineering firm MEC were hopeful of a resolution today, with union and company representatives due to enter discussions at 3pm...more
Latrobe Valley Express 2.10.06

* Union passes the hat around for workers

A community support fund has been established for Yallourn workers locked out of the MEC workshop for the next three months...moreGTLC Newsletter No1 21.09.07

* Yallourn Embassy Workshop News

GTLC Media Release 18.09.06

* Howard's Treacherous IR Laws Used Against Gippsland Workers
* 48 Workers Locked Out

The Gippsland Trades and Labour Council Secretary, John Parker, has described the locking out of 48 workers for 3 months by Mechanical Engineering Services as un-Australian...moreLatrobe Valley Express 18.09.06

* Employees maintain a vigil at Yallourn workshop

Workers continued to defy a three month lock-out at Mechanical Engineering Corporation's workshop at Yallourn by maintaining their protest at the company's gates this morning...more

Labels: MEC

Fucking big truck drives at you in a dangerous manner, so what do you do? Get out of the Way? Run? No, the fuckwits grab hold of it and hang off it.
Makes sense... ?

Mass Picket
6am-2pm Friday
May 11
Elliot Engineering
176 Colchestar Rd Kilsyth

In response to the employer violence on the picket last Friday and in support of the workers in Latrobe valley who have been locked out for 34 weeks a community assembly will be held outside Elliot Engineering in Kilsyth.

http://www.unionsolidarity.org/irnews/labels/MEC.html

Union Solidarity will not be intimidated by thuggish behaviour of any employer. Police are in the process of laying charges against Elliot and possible civil laws suits are being considered.

We expect a much larger turn out this Friday and the safety of protesters will be guaranteed. The right to picket and protest by workers outside their employer’s premises is one of the few democratic rights left. It is vital that this right is protected. If this action is not possible either due to anti-union laws or physical violence by the employer then tyranny will reign.

Union Solidarity has been privileged over the past two years to stand shoulder to shoulder with workers on many community assemblies. In many cases the picket or protest outside the workplace was the only thing standing in the way of their employers completely destroying hard won conditions.

Along the way those workers brave enough to strike in spite of anti-union laws, to picket regardless of legal threats and to seek wider union and community support actually found themselves on the winning side.

Up until now community assemblies that Union Solidarity have been involved in have mostly were non-violent and well organised. We have cooperated with the police and done our upmost to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

If you are in a position to please attend the assembly on Friday and pass this message on.

Union Solidarity.