Our struggles – in the courtrooms and out
In March this year Service and Food Workers Union National Secretary, John Ryall stated that unions would be taking more and more employment cases to Court following the latest in a string of successful cases for low-paid employees. He went on to say that litigation was now preferable to collective bargaining, which he described as […]
Marketing Poverty: the Question of Fair Trade
Capitalism is a system based explicitly on the exploitation of the many by the few. Throughout its few short centuries of existence, it has extended massive inequality to every corner of the globe. The supposed “free market” has pushed that process to the extreme, especially between the exploited countries of the global “south” and the […]
Equal Pay for Women: the Long Struggle
Kristine Bartlett is a hero. Her case put the question of equal pay back at the centre of politics. Bartlett has been employed for twenty years doing socially vital work as a carer for the elderly, and yet she was paid an insulting $14.46 an hour. This, Bartlett and the SFWU argued, breached the Equal Pay […]
Celebrating Unite’s struggle against Zero Hour Contracts
In a campaign reminiscent of Unite Union’s SuperSizeMyPay.com getting workers on to collective contracts from a decade ago, once again Unite has burst onto the industrial scene to take on the fast food giants and against all odds, win. The campaign brought out courageous stories of workers speaking out against their exploitation and zero-hours contracts, […]
Living Wage win at Wellington City Council
On Wednesday the 24th of June Wellington City Council voted nine to six in favour of paying its contract staff the living wage of 19.25 an hour. The ‘MOP’ march began outside the Wesley Church on Taranaki Street with a hot breakfast and speeches from the CTU president Helen Kelly and Bishop Justin Duckworth. Lots […]
Talleys AFFCO – New Zealand’s most Dangerous place to work?
Talley’s group is one of the most notorious employers known in the union world. The Talley’s family has made it their personal mission to destroy unionism in New Zealand and they are starting with their own companies. Again the employers are in a dispute with their meat workers, trying to force further cuts in workers […]
NZ Post – Privatisation by Stealth?
Tomorrow New Zealand Post will. continue its removal of road side post boxes. This is privatisation by stealth says the Postal Workers Union. We’re reprinting their statement below: “At the same time that NZ Post is quietly engaged in the removal of many of its road side post boxes and reducing its delivery service, private mail company DX […]
On May Day – a Salute to Kristine Bartlett
Kristine Bartlett recently toured the country speaking about her work in aged care and the landmark legal victory for pay equity. As part of International Workers Day, we celebrate this working class hero’s tireless campaigning for equal pay in New Zealand. Twenty three years ago Kristine Bartlett started work in aged care on $9 an […]
Solidarity with Unite Union! Condemn this attack
UNITE union headquarters has been smashed into and ransacked in what seems to be a politically motivated attack. UNITE have lead the charge in organising the recent Global Day of Fast Food Action in Aotearoa, organising marches in Auckland and Wellington, and other centres. They have got the fast food bosses running with their campaign […]
Old MacDonald Had A Strike: The story of striking fast food workers across the globe
In September 2012, 100 New York fast food workers went on strike. They were employed by such big franchise names as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and others. They had two core demands: that they receive a $15 ‘Living Wage’, and; that they have a Union presence in their worksites. Despite tremendous employer intimidation, severe anti-Union […]
