After 11 years of Liberal/National Party rule at a federal level in Australia the Labour party was swept to power in 2007, on the back of a Union campaign against the Howard governments Work Choices legislation. The grassroots Your Rights at Work campaign achieved unprecedented success despite media representations of the Union movement as being in decline and unrepresentative of working Australians.

The success of the campaign was built upon the efforts of local community members. While it would be easy to see the individuals involved in this grass roots activity as a united whole, the reality indicates that they were an alliance of disparate individuals working to a common purpose. The motivations, conflicts and stories of the people involved in this campaign provide rich source material for theatrical exploration. Gearstick will undertake a process of research and development that will result in the identification of a number of possible performance projects.