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Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:05 |
From making it easier for our bosses to fire us to making sick days that bit harder to have, it’s clear that National’s attacks on our rights at work pose a huge threat. But they also present us with an opportunity. The huge march in Auckland in May against mining in conservation land forced a back down, and showed that the Nats, whatever their popularity in the polls, are not unstoppable. A mass campaign against this new bill can make workers’ rights a political issue again, and could rally opposition to all the government’s attacks.
Unions are the largest group of voluntary organizations in the country: even after all the attacks of the last decades they’re still a mass force, and one to be reckoned with. And it is workers, when we’re organised and when we fight, who can stop attacks on our rights. We can hit the bosses where it hurts, in their profits.
That’s why the rallies the CTU have called next week are so important, and why we all need to be building them. In our workplaces, on the campuses, amongst our friends, family and whānau, we need to ensure that these rallies are as big as possible. They’re a fist step in getting this campaign going. On their own they won’t be enough, and we need to start talking about more rallies, marches, strikes and actions, but getting on the streets next Saturday is a vital first step.
Let’s get stories of how the current 90 day laws have been used (like this horrifying tale the CTU is publicizing) circulating and get the message out there. We know from Don Brash’s report – and from the climate of recession and cuts internationally – that this is just the first in whole series of cuts and attacks they’re dreaming about.
All of us need to be there: these laws will hurt all workers, whether you’re organised in a union or not. And a fightback on this can build confidence to fight on other fronts, too, so everyone who opposes the Nats’ anti-beneficiary; anti-worker, anti-environment agenda should be marching.
Rally details:
Auckland
1pm, Saturday 21st August,
QE2 Square (bottom of Queen St, opposite Britomart)
Wellington
1pm, Saturday 21st August, Civic Square
Christchurch
1pm, Saturday 21st August, Cathedral Square
Dunedin
11am, Sunday 22nd August, Assemble at Dental School, Great King Street
March to rally at the Octagon
The campaign website is here: http://fairness.org.nz/ |
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Thursday, 12 August 2010 04:57 |
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Ki te whare e tu nei, tena koe
Ki te marae takoto nei, tena koe
Ki te tangata whenua, Kai Tahu, tena koutou
Ki te tangata nei inaianei, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa
Thank you for the invititation to speak here tonight on behalf of the International Socialists, to Jess and Olive and Sam and his team and everyone else who has helped organise this night – and to you all for coming out to Rock Enrol. Who are we?
We are socialists – we stand for the rights of working people, students and the oppressed. We have been active in this city for 17 years – supporting strikes, campaigning for a living wage, fighting fees, and opposing racism, sexism and homophobia. We are internationalist. Many times we have organised demos that give Dunedin people a chance to speak out against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and modern-day apartheid in Israel/Palestine.
But we aren't just a protest organisation. We aim to represent the real interests of the working class majority of Dunedin, and New Zealand. Because although we have the right to vote – which was won by workers struggles – we are ruled by a kleptocracy, by a handful of wealthy families, by an old boys' club. No-one stands over us with a whip, but who steers the ship of state? Why do our young people have to emigrate to get decent work? Why do our wages stagnate, while rent, taxes and rates escalate? |
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Thursday, 05 August 2010 22:37 |
Not believing in force is like not believing in gravity.
L. Trotsky
Whether it is explicit like a US missile slamming into an Afghan village or merely a implicit threat, the kind that allows a bailiff to repossess your motor car, force is an inescapable part of life in modern society. And while force seems to have played less of a role in pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer societies, it has certainly been a defining feature of every society since then.
A fundamental aspect of socialism is opposition to the idea that “might is right”. We struggle against the arbitrary rule of fate and try to push back the meaningless chaos and destruction that characterises so much of human life.
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Thursday, 22 July 2010 06:17 |
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There can be no mistake - the laws being proposed by the government are the biggest attack on working people in 20 years, says Derwin Smith. The last time something like this happened was in 1991 with the Employment Contracts Act. The Unions at the time didn’t fight... and it has put us in the position we are in today – with weak unions, massive inequality, poverty, social isolation and a general feeling of apathy among the working class. Sadly this time round may not be all that different – the complete lack of militant leadership of the CTU will hinder us at every turn. There is no doubt that they will try to convert this campaign into an electioneering exercise for the Labour Party.
However this government is not untouchable! The anti-mining campaign has shown us that concerted campaigning including massive street protests can make the national party back off. |
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 12:40 |
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