Rebel Lives: Clara Zetkin
A federal election in Germany was held on 31 July 1932 in the depths of the Great Depression and a political crisis. The Nazis obtained the largest share of the vote and 230 seats in the 608-seat Reichstag. On 30 August the oldest member had the honour of opening the session of the newly-elected parliament. […]
A response to Erin Polaczuk
We write as socialists and as women who are proud trade union members, active in building our unions and the wider movement. Recent comments by Erin Polaczuk, national secretary of the the Public Services Association, in the Listener distort our trade union history and close off our future. Polaczuk claims the union movement is “smarter […]
Abortion should come out of the Crimes Act
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said these words in a televised leaders debate in the lead up to the elections. She is the first leader to bring up the issue of decriminalising abortion in a forum so close to an election. It came as a breath of fresh political air. Not because Ardern was taking a […]
Equal Pay: a breakthrough… and a struggle to come
In April 2017 the National government announced a massive pay rise for workers in the aged-care sector: two billion dollars over five years; 55,000 staff receiving a pay rise between 15 and 49 per cent; many will move from the minimum wage to a rate between $19 and $27 an hour. Socialists and trade unions […]
Making a song and dance for Equal Pay
Yesterday saw a lively rally on Cuba Mall in support of Equal Pay. The rally was called by the Council of Trade Unions as part of their ongoing campaign, and drew a crowd of over 100, with curious passers-by drawn in by the banners and the dancing — the organisers had choreographed a little number […]
Wellington students organise against rape culture
Hundreds of people gathered yesterday outside Parliament to protest rape culture in New Zealand. The action was called by several students from Wellington East Girls College. The protest, a direct response to rape jokes made on facebook by students from Wellington College, was loud, angry, defiant and empowering. Chants of “2,4,6,8 Stop the Violence, Stop the […]
Making history or maintaining the status quo?
THERE’S NO denying that women could use a “historic” breakthrough. We could use quite a few, if anyone is offering. Contrary to those who argue that we live in a post-feminist era, where sexism is a thing of the past, women are still, by almost any measuring stick, unequal to men in U.S. society. Wages, […]
A Rebel’s guide to Eleanor Marx
A Rebel’s Guide to Eleanor Marx, by Siobhan Brown “Eleanor Marx saw an alternative: a class that organised across borders, just as the rich do. She was a champion of the oppressed who linked the everyday struggles to a big vision. Our task remains the same.” These are the concluding lines of Siobhan Brown’s short […]
Why voting Democratic hasn’t preserved choice
Elizabeth Schulte makes the case that a woman’s right to choose abortion won’t be defended by subordinating our struggle to the needs of the Democratic Party. DONALD TRUMP gave abortion rights supporters a frightening glimpse of what an administration he commands might do when he told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews earlier this month that “[t]here has […]
Wellington Stand Up for Women
A large crowd gathered in Wellington’s Glover Park yesterday to demonstrate solidarity with those under threat of sexual violence and to take a stand against misogyny. The protestors looked exactly how you would expect: diverse, colourful and seemingly undaunted by attempts at intimidation. This admirable display of backbone is perhaps not so surprising given that […]
