[This email is information about the May 1 ("M1") blockade of the stock
exchange and an appeal to get involved. Please forward this message far and
wide…]
WHAT IS M1?
M1 is a plan for May Day blockades and rallies targeted at stock exchanges
as the next step in the international campaign against corporate
globalisation.
Thousands of people were inspired by the "S11" protests in Melbourne last
year which proved that protest action can be effective. All around the
country S11 coalitions have transformed themselves into M1 Alliance groups
to organise activities for May 1. In Hobart the M1 Alliance meets weekly on
Thursdays at 6pm at the Environment Centre, 102 Bathurst St, Hobart 7000.
The M1 Alliance is planning a mass, non-violent blockade of the stock
exchange (in the AMP building - corner of Elizabeth and Collins Streets)
from 7am on May 1. There will be a rally from 11am.
[Check out www.m1alliance.org and www.s11.org/m1 if you want info about M1
in other places]
THE RELEVANCE OF M1
1. Defending the victory of Seattle
Unions, environmentalists, human rights activists and others were involved
in an heroic protest outside the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Seattle
in November 1999. These protests in conjunction with the opposition of third
world governments meant that that round of WTO talks was stalled. That was a
significant victory for workers and poor people throughout the world. This
victory was not only symbolic - it has made a practical difference to the
living standards of workers and poor people, especially in the third world.
Since then, that victory has been defended by the high profile protests
outside international meetings of the IMF, World Bank, World Economic Forum
and other organisations. One reflection of this victory is that the WTO had
considerable difficulty finding a venue for its next "ministerial" (round of
talks) until finally settling on Qatar.
A significant set of mobilisations around Australia and around the world on
May 1 will help defend this victory. It will place us in a much better
position to stop the next round of WTO talks scheduled for November this
year.
2. International solidarity
M1 is part of the international efforts to draw attention to and combat a
profound injustice at the heart of the international economic and political
system. Most people would be horrified to learn that:
* If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof
overhead and a place to keep...you are richer than 75% of this world.
* If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish
someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
Ordinary people are not to blame for this situation, but the vast majority
sure wouldn't want it to continue if there was something they could do about
it!
The fact is there is something that can be done about it - extend our
solidarity to workers, poor farmers and urban poor throughout the world.
They need our solidarity and it is our duty to extend it! M1 is part of a
practical campaign to defend a real victory as outlined above.
3. An action against neo-liberalism
Neo-liberal globalisation is an acute disaster for people in the third world
but it's a disaster for us too. Neo-liberalism is responsible for the
unrelenting program of cutbacks to social services, privatisation of
government assets, erosion of workers' conditions (especially erosion of job
security and minimum hours) and (in order to achieve all this) attacks on
workers' democratic rights. There is no better illustration of this than the
IMF annual report on Australia which recommended that the government: reduce
taxes (but only for the rich); allow pensions to fall below inflation;
increase harassment of unemployed and other attacks on welfare; and gut
awards.
Because of neo-liberalism, we have:
* long queues in public hospitals and erosion of Medicare when the money
that the Howard government spent on subsidies to private health funds would
be enough to eradicate hospital queues
* inadequate funding for public education but dramatic increases in funding
to private schools (an attack on the majority but protecting the
government's social base of support).
* ongoing privatisation: (in the banking sector this has been partly
responsible for increased bank fees and continuing closure of branches)
* unfair taxation (the GST has shifted the tax burden further from the rich
to the poor)
* and a lot of other things beside…
M1 is a way to strike back at the neo-liberalism and put forward an
alternative vision of how our world could be organised. Bring your own
demands to m1 and make it clear why neo-liberal globalisation needs to be
opposed!
WHY BLOCKADE THE STOCK EXCHANGE?
The Stock Exchange is both a symbol of the opulence and injustice of the
corporate rich and their system. In addition, the basic function of the
stock exchange (increasingly speculation instead of productive investment)
is contrary to the interests of the mass or workers. (For more information
on this point contact the M1 Alliance for a copy of The Financial Markets:
how they work and for whom.)
The corporate barons have not been listening to the cries for justice from
ordinary people, so more radical action is needed. Many of the people who
participated in the S11 protests in Melbourne would not have done so had the
protests been limited to a tame vigil. M1 similarly incorporates an element
of non-violent civil disobedience.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
(a) Come along to M1 itself. Bring a banner or placard and bring a lot of
friends. Peaceful blockade begins 7am, Rally 11am.
(b) Join the email discussion about how to build M1. Click on this:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(c) If you're a member of a union or other organisation, please organise for
that organisation to come along to M1 and to officially endorse it.
(d) Nominate a corporate scumbag. Contact M1 Alliance for details.
(e) Come to M1 Alliance meetings (Every Thursday, 6pm, Environment Centre,
102 Bathurst St, Hobart)
(f) Help publicise M1. Help put up some posters. Help distribute leaflets.
Forward this email to everyone in your address book.
A successful M1 will make a difference. Most significant progressive changes
in history have occurred when people have been prepared to come onto the
streets and upset the status quo. Come along and get invovled.
If not here? Where?
If not now? When?
If not us? Who?
M1 Alliance Tasmania
PO Box 233, North Hobart 7002.
Ph 6234 6397 or 6234 1562.
Fax 6231 9141.
Subscribe to the M1 Tas egroup: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Blockade the Stock Exchange May 1"
AMP Building, cnr Elizabeth & Collins Sts
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
To unsubscribe send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
See also: www.destroyimf.org
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
