“A dramatic upsurge in working class struggle, surpassing in magnitude the rise of the Red Feds from 1908 to 1913 and the 1951 Waterfront Lockout, took place in New Zealand from the Arbitration Court’s nil general wage order in June 1968 to the union movement’s defeat of the Muldoon Government’s attempted wage freeze in 1976.

The pamphlet describes and analyses these struggles and their impact on progressive social movements, particularly the anti-war, women’s liberation, and Maori protest movements.”

[Read more...]

This year marks the centenary of the 1912 Waihi miners’ strike, one of the most important – and violently contested - strikes in New Zealand history. Frederick Evans was matyred; political ideas and organisational questions clarified; and the role and force of the state made clear. The strike offers many lessons for today.

To mark the occasion, we have published a new pamphlet, The Significance of the 1912 Waihi Strike. This pamphlet aims to introduce the story of the strike to a new generation of unionists and activists, and to draw out its political significance.

You can buy a copy from our branches or you can order copies for $5 by emailing contact@iso.org.nz or by writing to ISO, PO Box 6157, Dunedin. You can also contact us by phone, either text or ring 022 312 8012.

The Significance of the Waihi Strike
by Martin Gregory
International Socialist Organisation
(ISBN 978-0-473-22214-7)