Tens of thousands of people will fill the streets of Melbourne today as part of the nationwide series of Change the Rules rallies.
The campaign, which is the largest since Your Rights at Work more than a decade ago, aims to restore fairness to workplace laws, create better job security and pay rises that keep up with rising company profits and the cost of living.
Organisers expect a vocal and peaceful crowd to gather outside Trades Hall before marching through the CBD to the steps of state parliament.
Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:
“People from Melbourne and beyond are ready to take action to change the rules to win better job security and fair pay rises.
“They know big business has too much power, and they know that when working people join together we are mighty and unbreakable.
“We believe in the fair go and we are prepared to fight for it. Working people are not getting their fair share: We have one of the highest levels of insecure work in the developed world. People have had enough and want change
“Anyone who wants to live in a better, fairer country, who wants more secure jobs and fairer pay rises, should join the movement for change.”
Quotes attributable to VTHC Secretary Luke Hilakari:
“We all deserve jobs we can count on, but today Victorians are working harder, and longer, and more of us are being forced into insecure work. It is getting harder for the average person to get a job that sustains them and their family. Why? Because big business has written the rules to suit them.
“Victorians are sick of stalled wages, rising inequality, cheating banks, and tax-dodging corporations. We are sick of having our rights to organise and strike being whittled away. We are sick of politicians putting their big business mates ahead of working Australians.
“We’ve already seen a number of big rallies across the country. This week, ordinary Victorians are coming out to take their first steps in a movement that will change the rules. I hope Malcolm Turnbull is watching, because this is a big warning that things have to change.”
What: Press conference immediately before march, featuring VTHC Secretary Luke Hilakari and working people from the Melbourne region
Where: Eight hour day monument, corner Russell and Victoria St, Carlton
When: 09:30am, Wednesday May 9
Sally McManus will speak at the rally at 11am.
