For a time in 1990, the trams were ours
January 1, 1990...
"The first day of a new decade and trammies showed that bosses are redundant. A sign was put up outside the Brunswick Depot saying: Under new management: Workers Control. At Essendon Depot, they raised a "Connies Forever" flag, On that day, workers control stopped being an idea and became a reality. Sure, it was sabotaged by management when they turned off the power and opted for a lockout, but it had created a feeling of strength. It felt good to be in control. It felt good to run the system as a service. It felt good to see other trammies as fellow workers with a common bond. People came from all over the place to midnight depot meetings, and drivers couldn't get out fast enough to take trams out of the depots. It was amazing to take the trams in and blockade the city, and to fight for something worth fighting for.
This dispute is one small part of our self defense as working people wanting a life free from bureaucrats, bosses, pollies fucking up our lives "for our own good" ...we should have no illusions that victory is inevitable. After all, what is victory? Going back to long hours of shift work, the same old incompetent management, having to rake shit for a rundown, overcrowded "system"? A victory is something where you are better off, when you come with out than when you went in. So, of course, no stupid ticket system. No job losses. No standing in the rain selling tickets. No being a pseudo-inspector ... The very idea of a "service" is poo-pooed by the corporate megabuck managers. They don't give a shit about some old worker who has to walk a kilometer to buy a ticket, or who is attacked, or who falls off a moving tram, or who collapses in a crush If you are on a tram you must be a nobody - whether passenger or worker!
If this dispute is to be won, what trammies are doing now needs to be well organised plus we need tactics to take it further." from “Anarcho-syndicalism in practice: Melbourne tram dispute & lockout January-February 1990″