40,000 march against nuclear power in Tokyo
40 00 people took to the streets to protest against nuclear plants and Prime Minister Abe in Tokyo on October 13. Kenji Kunitomi from the Japan Revolutionary Communist League prepared this report for Socialist Review. Right-wing nationalist Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claims radiation from Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor is perfectly under control at his […]
Washington’s warring brothers
This month’s battles over the budget and the Tea Party Republicans’ fanaticism about the health care law obscure the two parties’ common commitment to austerity. The federal government officially went into shutdown mode at midnight on October 1–in another spectacular display of dysfunction in the highest offices of the “world’s greatest democracy.” Some 800,000 “non-essential” […]
Why fruit is picked by migrant workers
This article by Richard Seymour out of the UKraises issues of importance for the workers’ movement in Aotearoa, given seasonal labour’s role in fruit and horticulture, and recent debates – within the ruling class and media – on migration, exploitation and seasonal workers from the Pacific. The debate over the decision to scrap a seasonal […]
Slutwalk Dunedin 2013
The forecast was for rain and snow but but the sun shone through for Dunedin’s SlutWalk 2013. About 200 people turned up to oppose victim-blaming, with a hardy few showing some skin to the chilly wind to protest the idea that “slutty clothing” has anything to do with sexual violence. SlutWalk started in 2010 in […]
Rediscovering the 1949 Carpenters’ Strike
The following was delivered as a talk at the International Socialism Day School 2013 by Kevin Hodder. The 151 day waterfront lockout, and its eventual defeat, of militant workers is legendary, and widely recognised as the beginning of the end for one period of union militancy in New Zealand. Its story is widely known in […]
The other Labour Party Contest
Squabbles over leadership in Labour have gone on for a long time, all the way through Shearer’s time in fact. We argue that Labour is not the party of working-class interests and, with campaigns going on in the streets, it can be hard to care following the ins and outs of this latest contest. Isn’t […]
Fighting for welfare justice in Aotearoa: an interview with a welfare advocate
The following is an interview with a welfare advocate, conducted by Andrew Tait of the ISO on August 16, 2013 You’re a solo mother. What is your experience of Winz as a consumer? It’s set up in such a way that people are uninformed about their entitlements. For example, if they find out they are […]
Yes to revolution, no to intervention!
We Stand Behind the Syrian People’s Revolution – No to Foreign Intervention Over 150 thousand were killed, hundreds of thousands injured and disabled, millions of people displaced inside and outside Syria. Cities, villages, and neighborhoods were destroyed fully or partially, using all sorts of weapons, including warplanes, scud missiles, bombs, and tanks, all paid for […]
Auckland Rallies for Workers’ Rights
Stop-work meetings in Petone, Auckland and then Christchurch this last week have been part of the campaign against National’s proposed changes to the Employment Relations Act. Yesterday’s rally drew thousands of workers. Overall, the meeting, which lasted around forty minutes, was a lively event with an upbeat mood amongst almost 5000 workers. There were contingents from the […]
Labour’s Leadership Battle
We wished good riddance to David Shearer. It’s a good thing he has resigned – he was useless and bumbling against Key when issue after issue offered opportunities to attack the government for its anti-worker record. The common wisdom seems to be that Shearer was a ‘nice guy,’ but in truth he was happy to […]
