Report back on successful picket action

Six weeks ago, on the 17th of October, a cleaner working at Australia Posts logistics center on the Burwood Highway in Knoxfield, Melbourne was arbitrarily sacked by his employer, CMC, at the request of Australia Post. The cleaner had been working there for 11 years and had never had a trust issue raised with him in that time.

The cleaner, going about his job as usual, was cleaning a bosses office when he found a tub of yoghurt on top of a plastic bag on the top of the desk. He put the yoghurt in the bin, opened the plastic bag to see if it was rubbish. There was paper inside so he opened the paper to check if it was rubbish. It was not, it was a letter, so he folded it back up and put it down on the desk. However as he was doing so, about to leave, the boss walked back in. The boss became irate, called the sub-contractor cleaning company, CMC, who employed the cleaner, and told them that said cleaner had been rifling through his files and documents and demanded that the cleaner be fired on the spot. CMC was all too happy to oblige, and this innocent worker lost his job without explanation. The cleaner and the union sought to take the case before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) last week as an unfair dismissal case, however CMC have claimed they only employ 87 people, and therefore, thanks to John Howard’s harsh and despicable anti-worker laws, they do not have to take any responsibility or give any reasoning for depriving this innocent man of his livelihood, and he cannot take it before the AIRC.

On the Thursday the 29th, at 6:30am a small group of Union Solidarity activists, set up a community based picket line on the Deliveries gate of the Australia Post Logistics centre on the Burwood highway, in Knoxfield. Two Socialist Party members also participated later in the picket line. The picket did not block workers from attending their jobs, but blocked no less than 6 trucks, and had a further delivery cancelled. The picket was so successful that it blocked an Australia Post semi-trailer, due to arrive at 7am, carrying a ‘just on time delivery’ of stamps to be distributed for the Christmas period. The truck was blocked for 3 and a half hours before a supervisor from Dandenong was sent to try and get the truck into the facility. After a further half hour stand off, in which time the local media attended, the supervisor conceded, the semi-trailer was sent back to its origin and another delivery was cancelled. The picket line was abandoned at 12:30pm after a major victory. The Australia Post Logistics centre had been effectively shut down for an entire day and Australia Post Management was in a furor.

Since then, CMC have blamed Australia Post, and Australia Post have blamed CMC for the loss of this mans livelihood. The cleaner has not received his job back, or compensation yet, but the struggle will continue until this happens. The Socialist Party is in full support of this man and the struggle for his livelihood and wishes to express their solidarity.



Yeah thats the article I wrote for SP webby. I was there, I was one of the SP dudes.
When I said a 'small group' of US Activists, I mean it fluctuated between 6-9 for the entire time I was there, between quater to 9 and about 10:45. The Truckie was staunch as, but I shouldn't say to much more on a public forum. When they sent the supervisor out, we all thought it was gunna be some crazy cunt who was gunna try and just drive the semi straight through us and into the facility. This was partly because not to long ago there was a 3 month stand off at the Aus Post site in Dandenong for a whole swag of jobs, and the fucken' crazy bosses were like assualting the picketers, and charging them with vehicles and shit. Luckily enough the boss wasn't to intent on doing that, and due to Dave Kerin's skillfull negotiation and Steve's crazy as Bad-cop stylz going verbally balistic at this guy, aswell as some other actions to block the truck from moving at all, we were successfull, and the boss told us he'd cancelled another delivery due in a half an hour.

Kirk.

UPDATE: DIRECT ACTION GETS SATISFACTION! JOB HAS BEEN RETURNED TO JANITOR!