Kua tae te wā: it’s time to escalate our strikes
On my way into Wellington this morning I wondered how many primary teachers and principals would heed their union’s call to take part in the area march and rally at Parliament, and how many would take the opportunity for a well-deserved day of relaxation. I need not have worried about the level of commitment, the […]
University of Otago shuts down free speech: students organise
Sudden explosions of struggle can seem to come from nowhere. The last time Otago students rose up in any way, albeit a chaotic and apolitical way, was the last Undie 500 riot in 2010. Several hundred students at various parties in North Dunedin, sick of being provoked and harassed by police pushed back. The police […]
The Budget: a socialist response
“Budget 2018 sets out the first steps in a plan for transformation.” That’s how Grant Robertson introduced Labour’s first Budget. Hopes for transformation brought Labour, the Greens and NZ First into government last year. A glance around at the inequality, underfunding and social suffering that have become normalised after nine years of National shows how […]
Auckland students for a new university
The proposed closure of the specialist libraries at the University of Auckland has become an important and much discussed matter. High school students are informing their teachers about how the University of Auckland isn’t putting enough money towards its libraries, something it appears the university’s Vice Chancellor, Stuart McCutchen hasn’t grasped yet. Students, staff and […]
Health workers make their voices heard
Thousands rallied across the country last weekend to show their support for health workers in their campaign for better pay and conditions. There were gatherings of several hundred in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and rallies in cities all across the country. From Greymouth to Gisborne people came out to stand in solidarity with nurses […]
Health workers need more: ‘independent’ panel no way forward
During last year’s election campaign Labour seemed to be the party that offered pay equity and a boost to health spending. Nurses, health care assistants and midwives, working in unbearable conditions under National’s cutbacks, took Labour at its word. In November the ordinary member of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation voted down a collective agreement, […]
Renting and Class Struggle
Renting can often seem like an isolating and powerless experience. We have to compete against other potential tenants for properties, going through the stress of flat hunting, viewings and landlords’ checks into our finances and private lives. Tenancy rules are weighted in favour of landlords. Rent comes out automatically from your bank account, but there […]
Nurses fight for their rights
Sarah Anderson works as a nurse. She submitted this to the New Zealand Herald a fortnight ago, before nurses voted down the DHBs’ latest inadequate offer. The ISO is happy to publish this guest post, and stands in full solidarity with the nurses and their demands. Negotiations between the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and District […]
The housing crisis hits – again
As the academic year starts for tens of thousands of university students, the frenzy of looking for accommodation begins again. This time however, it’s worse than any year before. There is a shortage of rentals. Trade Me reported a drop in availability of 70% in December 2017. Landlords are milking this woeful supply situation by […]
Turei against poverty
Tara Dalefield reports from a Christchurch meeting with Metiria Turei last month. On the 31st of August, former Green party co-leader Metiria Turei spoke in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral about poverty in New Zealand and the fallout from her confession to benefit fraud six weeks prior. She spoke extensively of the ways in which our […]
