Attacks on penalty rates, looming Illawarra hospital privatisations and worker exploitation will be the focus of a May Day march through the city on Saturday.

‘’Fighting inequality’ is the theme of this year’s international May Day events and South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said 2017 had already brought an “unprecedented attack on working people and our rights at the workplace”.

“What we’ll see on the streets of Wollongong on Saturday is both the anger and the determination of working people who have had enough of exploitation, of wage theft, and of governments and corporations trying to take away what our community already owns,” Mr Rorris said.

 “What we’ll see is quite a historic display of miners, together with doctors and nurses, with workers in the public sector, with students who have been badly treated in the classroom and workplace.”

Members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) will be among those taking part in the Wollongong May Day march, which will assemble in Lowden Square at 10am and make its way to the Crown Street Mall. 

“The global union movement has long acknowledged the contribution of workers to our community and economy and this year’s May Day is no different,” NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes said.

The CFMEU will use the event to ramp up its ‘Save Dave’ campaign – a fight to have sacked Appin miner Dave McLachlan reinstated. Mr McLachlan’s employment was terminated by South32 on April 19, following an undies protest the previous month.