In memory of Alison Stoddart
We were horrified to learn of the loss of Alison Stoddart (1980 – 2012), a fighter against injustice and oppression gone much too soon. Our thoughts are with all of her family and friends.Alison came from a family with a long history of activism and campaigning in Dunedin. Her granny, Christina, travels to Palestine regularly […]
Rebellion of the Rank and File
On 17 September a joint-union stopwork meeting of Auckland bus drivers voted against their union leaders’ recommendation to accept the latest NZ Bus offer. Unless a concession is made Auckland’s 800 bus drivers will be on strike next Monday, and plan to strike every Monday for weeks if necessary. NZ Bus is owned by Infratil, […]
Aotearoa: the State of the Class Struggle
During the whole of 2011 there were a mere 12 work stoppages and they involved barely 2,000 workers and only 4,850 person-days lost (to exploitation); so says the Department of Labour. Even worse, only 9 of the 12 stoppages were actual stoppages. The other 3 were what the DOL calls ‘partial strikes’, which are not […]
Marching for Marriage Equality
At least a thousand people showed out today to support a bill being introduced to parliament today, which would amend the Marriage Act to allow marriage between same sex couples. While many would argue that marriage is an institution best avoided, that doesn’t change the fact that it is a right, with many associated legal benefits, […]
Against Austerity: from Athens to Aotearoa
There’s a stupid joke doing the rounds on the internet that says a German and a Greek are drinking at the bar. The Greek walks out, leaving the German to pay the bill. A more accurate joke would put a German, a Greek and a banker in the bar. The banker drinks the bar dry, […]
Winston Peters and Anti-Asian Racism
Winston Peters is reviving his old anti-Asian bogeyman. This time he’s blaming elderly Asian migrants “cashing” in on New Zealand’s superannuation scheme. Peters’ racist tactics are groundless and he cannot provide a shred of evidence to support his claims. The truth is, far from “cashing” in on New Zealand, relatively youthful Asian immigrants make a […]
Honouring Past Struggles: Whangamata Protest 2008
In July 2008, Hauraki Māori and other community members of Whangamata occupied the proposed car park area of the Whangamata marina. What led them to this point? Te Matatuhi (the marina site) is the ancestral name of tangata whenua for the specific lands subject to the proposed marina. Te Matatuhi is land of particular significance […]
A Victory for Talley’s AFFCO Workers
Union Hard! This slogan from the locked-out and striking men and women of the Meatworkers’ Union had real meaning over the summer and autumn of this year – for twelve hard weeks they faced off against a company determined to break their union. Talley’s did not manage to do this, and it didn’t manage to […]
Beating back the bosses
It’s the middle of winter and four years into a National government but spring is in the air. When Key was re-elected we were worried. He won the election on the back of a record low vote (around 50% of people on the Maori roll didn’t vote) but he claimed an endorsement for another three […]
The Paris Commune of 1871: Women and Revolution
By Rowan McArthur “The experience of all liberation movements has shown that the success of a revolution depends on how much the women take part in it.” – This is a quote from the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Its truth has been proven time and again, with women being at the forefront of resistance […]
