The State of the Unions in 2024
The end of 2024 marks one year in power for the National-led government. This retrospective look at the year for unions examines the state of the union movement in 2024 compared with the first year of the last National-led government in 2009. National Party leader John Key was sworn in as Prime Minister at the […]
Ngā Taurahere – a new Māori translation of The Internationale – Part 2
Part One of this interview and translation can be found here: https://iso.org.nz/2024/06/28/nga-taurahere-a-new-maori-translation-of-the-internationale/ ISO members Kaakatarau Te Pou Kohere (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti te ata Waiohua, Kai Tahu) and Tima Thurlow (Ngāi Tuhoe) are developing a new Māori translation of the workers’ anthem The Internationale. Kaakatarau spoke to Shōmi Yoon about the considerations and politics of […]
Interview: Woolworths workers’ strike for living wage and safer staffing
In early August nearly ten thousand FIRST Union members working in Countdown and Woolworths across Aotearoa New Zealand voted in favour of strike action. The 2023 financial statement shows Woolworths made an AUD$3billion pre-tax profit, with Aotearoa New Zealand operations making up around 11% of total revenue. This is a company with money to spare. […]
Residents Fight Back Against Cuts
‘Village in the Park’ is a retirement and aged care complex in Newtown Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. It is operated by Arvida group which operates 35 such complexes across Aotearoa New Zealand. The company’s 2024 annual report shows an increase in revenue of 11% and a whopping 69% increase in net profit to 139 million dollars […]
Ngā Taurahere – a new Māori translation of The Internationale
ISO members Kaakatarau Te Pou Kohere (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti te ata Waiohua, Kai Tahu) and Tima Thurlow (Ngāi Tuhoe) are developing a new Māori translation of the workers’ anthem The Internationale. Kaakatarau spoke to Shōmi Yoon about the considerations and politics of The Internationale and the connections to Māoritanga and te ao Māori threaded […]
Jim Edwards, the Communist Party of New Zealand, and unemployment struggles in the 1930s
James Henry Edwards arrested in Norfolk Street after an Anti-Eviction occupation, 1931. The history of the Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) is worth knowing. Although the Party was never more than small, it was the largest and most influential political formation there had been to the left of the Labour Party until the short-lived […]
The Unemployed: Cheap Labour On Tap
There’s an old Kiwi joke that in the 1950s unemployment was so low, down to a mere few dozen individuals, that the Minister of Labour knew the name of every person collecting the dole. In those days, Government policy had an eye towards the full employment of the working class. Today, state institutions refer instead […]
Healthcare workers in solidarity with Palestine
On 11 October, the fifth day of the war on Gaza, emergency services at Al Shifa Hospital received a call from a nearby neighbourhood. The assault by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) had caused mass casualties in the vicinity of the Karni Crossing. Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances had to wait to receive clearance from Israel. The […]
Uber vs its drivers
On 19th March around 40 people rallied outside the Court of Appeal in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington in support of Uber drivers. The rally called by First Union, which has more than a thousand Uber driver members, was held in the hour before the start of a two-day court hearing. Uber is seeking that the […]
Rally to support immigrant workers
Unions including TEU, First, E Tū, and NZNO gathered outside the Philippines embassy in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington at midday on Friday 19th January 2024, calling on the Philippines government to ensure migrant workers are provided support. New Zealand construction company ELE, which employed numerous Filipino workers on temporary work visas, went into receivership in December […]
