By Linda Waldron (Melbourne West branch)
On May 28, after our branch meeting, Melbourne West members drove out to Laverton to visit the Electrical Trades Union three-month-long picket line at Smorgon Steel.
AMWU (Workers First) organiser and fellow SA branch member Fergie Eiffe was already there with the six picketers holding the line that night. We distributed “Hands off our union” badges to the strikers and kept them company for a couple of hours over cups of tea and lots of discussion about the latest in the struggle.
The next day was the 100th day of the picket, and five of our branch members went along to the well attended picket-line breakfast for young workers, where we handed over the donations we had collected at a Socialist Alliance public forum on the budget held the previous Monday.
At the breakfast we ran into AMWU activist Jorge, who is also a member of the Chilean Communist Party. He told us that the Socialist Alliance was the first party in 20 years that CCP members in Australia saw as an attractive vehicle for their political work. The CCP (Australia) is currently discussing affiliation to the Alliance.
The CCP hosted a fundraiser for the strikers the following Saturday, at which Socialist Alliance gave greetings.