IN PICTURES: Hundreds of unionists march through Darwin for May Day
GALLERY: Hundreds of unionists marched through the streets of Darwin for May Day. Read why this annual parade is always lead by a rattling 60-year-old truck.
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A rattling vintage truck draped in union flags led hundreds of Territorians through Darwin in a united call for greater workplace protections and rights.
Every year the green TJ Series Bedford truck has led the annual May Day marches through Darwin as an enduring symbol of how Territory workers could stand in solidarity with the fight for civil rights.
After Vincent Lingiari led the Gurindji people to walk-off the Wave Hill cattle station in 1966, NT trade union activist Brian Manning loaded up his TJ Series Bedford truck with food and supplies and drove almost 800 kilometres along rough and unsealed roads to support the strikers.
During the nine-year historic strike, Mr Manning repeated this gruelling journey at least 15 times.
While the streets of Darwin posed less of a challenge than the roads to Kalkarindji, Maritime Union of Australia NT secretary Andy Burford said he was always emotional seeing that Bedford truck leading the May Day marches.
“It’s very proud for us,” Mr Burford said on Monday.
“I knew Brian very well for a lot of years, so to see that sitting there brings it all back.
“It brings back all the memories of Brian … he was a great man.”
United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy said the Wave Hill Walk-off was “about so much more than just wages and work conditions”, and served as a valuable lesson for how unions should challenge inequality in all its forms — fighting for racial justice, challenging sexism, standing with the LGBTQI+ community and advocating for young people.
“These brave (Gurindji) leaders did not settle for the status quo and they pushed back against the consciousness of where we all were at the time,” Mr Kennedy said.
“This was the beginning of an epic struggle for land rights, fighting back against dispossession and exploitation.
“Although many of our white unionists at the time were supportive of the strike, they probably did not understand the significance of reclaiming the land.
“Unions are at their best when we are challenged to grow and evolve and to challenge the status quo.”
For many at the Darwin May Day march, these public holiday celebrations were a continuation of Saturday’s election victory.
Mr Burford said following Saturday evenings decisive Labor federal election victory unionists were feeling much more optimistic about the next three years.
“It could have been a different state of affairs as from tomorrow if it was the other mob,” he said.
Mr Burford said union issues had played a significant role in the election, particularly in Solomon where debates focused on the ownership of the Port of Darwin.
“We’ve always been against the sale in the first place, we always thought it should have been kept in the hands of the Government,” the MUA boss said.
“We have a good working relation now with the Port of Darwin … so for us, as long as all the workers are safe.
“(But) it will be good to see if go back into Australian hands.”
IN PICTURES: Darwin’s 2025 May Day marches
‘The joy is still flowing’: Federal election celebrations to boost crowds at Darwin’s May Day march
INITIAL — Sunday, May 4: The post-election euphoria will spill onto the streets of Darwin for May Day following the strong federal Labor victory.
Hundreds of unionist are expected to parade through the streets in the Labour Day march just two days after Labor secured a whopping majority in the Federal election.
Unions NT secretary Erina Early said the annual march — which celebrates the fight to enshrine the eight hour work day — was expected to draw a crowd of between 800 and 1000 people on Monday.
This is double the size of last year’s celebrations, with Ms Early saying this weekend’s Labor landslide likely to see many more people joining the public holiday festivities.
One of the guest speakers at the march, United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy said the weekend election showed that Australians had rejected “the imported right-wing populism from Europe of the United States”.
“The size of the victory on Saturday night has taken a lot of people by surprise in a very positive way and given people a lot of hope,” Mr Kennedy said.
“The election was probably one of the most significant victories for Labor in my adult life.
“I think it showed that Australians want to make certain they look after one another.
“The joy is still flowing, and I think it will probably overflow onto the May Day march here in Darwin.”
The Melbourne-based union leader said it was “important to show solidarity with our members in the north”, and despite the election victory said the movement could not rest on its laurels.
“The reality is that there’s a lot of work to do, a lot of Australians are hurting and cost of living hasn’t gone away because of an election,” Mr Kennedy said.
Currently the NT Government is in negotiations with police, all public servants, Jacana workers, Aboriginal Health practitioners and non-contract principals, teachers and assistant teachers — but enterprise bargaining is expected to soon begin for firefighters, paramedics, and corrections.
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Originally published as IN PICTURES: Hundreds of unionists march through Darwin for May Day
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