In the last three months of 2021, 57,200 workers were involved in industrial disputes, the highest since December 2013, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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While the figures were well below the heights of the early 1990s where almost 700,000 workers walked off the job, the number of strikes and stoppages in late 2021 and early 2022 has highlighted workers claims of underpay, overwork and tenuous job security.

Leading these efforts have been frontline workers including nurses, aged care staff, teachers and emergency workers, and on May Day this year, these workers will be leading the parade through Wollongong, said Mick Cross, president of the South Coast May Day Committee and secretary of the southern NSW branch of the Maritime Union.

"This year will be focused on frontline workers and teachers - all those that have had to go over and above expectations for the last two years," he said.

For decades, the union movement in the Illawarra has celebrated May Day with a march through Wollongong CBD. On Saturday, Mr Cross said that workers would turn out in their hundreds to celebrate their achievements.

"May Day, as every year, is a celebration of workers' struggles for many decades, and this year is no different with what's going on in the pandemic and if we see a Conservative government re-elected in this country."

After years of declining membership, Mr Cross said that greater visibility of unions and their past achievements are encouraging more to sign on.

With Wollongong and the Illawarra having reportedly some of the highest union density of any region in Australia, Mr Cross said that this was down to the mutual respect the union movement and the wider community have for each other.

"A union is only as strong as a community that it works in," he said.

"We are a union town, a proud union town, we always have and always will be, but if we don't have the community on side then we can't achieve a thing."

The march will start at 10am from Lowden Square, next to Wollongong Station and then make its way to the amphitheatre on Crown Street Mall. There a range of guest speakers will address attendees.

While rain may be forecast for the day, it wouldn't stop the event from having the energy it does each year, Mr Cross said, quoting the late Fred Moore.

"When workers take to the streets, the streets belong to us. For that short period once a year it's our turn to celebrate what we do as workers and as unions. It's a wonderful day."

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