Wonthaggi rally marks May Day with call for worker solidarity

ABOUT 25 people gathered at Apex Park in Wonthaggi on Friday to mark May Day with calls for stronger unions and safer workplaces.

Unionist Jessica Harrison, who organises the annual event, said the rally drew on Wonthaggi's proud history of union militancy during the coal mining era.

"We were the first place in the country to have a women's auxiliary which was part of the union organising," Ms Harrison said.

"That's what I want to see, the community and the workplace engaged together, because we're all affected."

Ms Harrison said 33 workers had already died in Australian workplaces this year following 180 deaths in 2025.

"That shows the importance of union activism, because if you've got a strong union in a workplace you've got a safe workplace," she said.

The rally also remembered Josh Park-Fing, an 18-year-old who died 10 years ago at a work for the dole site at the Toowoomba Showgrounds in Queensland.

Mr Park-Fing was collecting rubbish when he was thrown from a trailer being towed by a tractor and suffered fatal head injuries.

"He had already messaged his dad that day to say he didn't feel safe in the workplace," Ms Harrison said.

She pointed to current industrial disputes including rolling teacher strikes across Victoria and a planned 24-hour walkout by workers at eight Melbourne councils.

"The teachers are taking industrial action right now and we've heard there's probably going to be a march in Wonthaggi later this month," Ms Harrison said.

Student Oliver Jobe spoke about the role of unions in securing workplace rights.

"We would not have the five-day work week, we would not have the eight-hour workday, we would not have a minimum wage if it wasn't for unions," Mr Jobe said.

He highlighted a recent win for junior workers with pay rates for 18 to 20-year-olds set to be phased out through annual increases in the fast food, retail and pharmacy industries by 2029.

Mr Jobe also called for a general strike in solidarity with international causes.

Activist Phil Bool used a housing analogy to illustrate wealth inequality in Australia, describing a system where 10 people owned 44 per cent of the wealth while 90 others fought for what remained.

"The spirits and the ghosts of countless millions who fought for the rights of the underclass against the ruling class are here with us today," Mr Bool said.

"The struggle continues and it should never end."

May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, is observed around the world on May 1 and commemorates the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago where workers rallied for an eight-hour workday.

Ms Harrison noted thousands of protest actions were planned across the United States on Friday as part of a growing workers' movement.