More than an estimated 50,000 people have flocked to Melbourne's CBD to join the Australian Council of Trades Union’s (ACTU) 'Change the Rules' march, resulting in road closures.
The massive demonstration kicked off at 10.30am on Wednesday, with unionists and supporters meeting outside the Trades Hall in Melbourne's CBD before marching down city streets and ending at the state parliament.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews marched alongside the workers, who called for decent wages and a return to penalty rates.
Speaking before the march, Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari thanked the Premier for attending, according to The Age.
Mr Andrews reportedly told reports that he was proud to join a campaign for better conditions for workers.
Other politicians, including federal MPs Andrew Giles, Ged Kearney, Kate Thwaites and Adam Bandt, also made an appearance.
Unions argue the federal government has overseen the largest decline in living standards in 30 years, with rallies organised in 14 centres across the nation.
“Working people have had enough of the fact that our wages are not keeping up with the cost of living”, ACTU President Michele O’Neil told reporters.
“For nearly six years now, workers’ wages have been stagnant or going backwards. Meanwhile the cost of fuel, the cost of electricity, gas and all the ordinary things in life you need to pay for are going up”, she added.
“And of course, we’ve also got a crisis in insecure work- casual, short-term, contract jobs where workers don’t know how much they’re going to earn or their hours they’re going to work”.
Just days after a veganism protest blocked traffic and caused delays, commuters were again advised to make alternative arrangements.
