3 May 2024
MEDIA RELEASE
Hunter Workers will rally on International Workers Day this Sunday, 5 May, marking 130 years since May Day was first celebrated in the Hunter.
Workers across the Hunter region and their families are warmly welcomed to join the parade beginning at 10 am from Newcastle Museum.
The annual May Day Parade is an exuberant celebration that sees workers marching joyfully in unity through Newcastle, making way to the Foreshore Train Sheds where entertainment, speeches, carnival rides, & food can be enjoyed by all.
May Day originated from the fierce struggle for eight-hour workdays that began more than 150 years ago, when most Australian workers laboured up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, without sick leave or job security.
Since then, workers all over the world have marched on May 1st to celebrate the labour movement and the advancement of workers’ rights, while campaigning for current industrial and political issues impacting working people.
May Day Family Day Speakers:
• MC: Vice President Jack Galvin Waight
• Leigh Shears, Secretary
• Teresa Hetherington, HWWC President
• Christy Cain, CFMEU National Secretary
• Sharon Claydon, Newcastle Federal Member
• Fred Krausert, MUA Retired Member
Leigh Shears, Hunter Workers Secretary:
“Since 1894, people of the Hunter have come together in unity on May Day to celebrate, be heard, and to fight for the issues affecting our working people, our communities, and the future of our region.
This year we have much to celebrate, but also, so much to fight for.
Workers are marching amidst a cost-of-living crisis underscored by underemployment and a housing and rental crisis, signalling urgent need to improve the rights, working conditions and living standards of our working-class communities.
Hunter workers will continue to campaign for our communities, our jobs, and our future as we enter a new era of industrial transformation across our region.”