Zero-hour contracts, Poverty Pay, Rest Breaks Gone: We Need Our Unions
The scandalous practice of illegal wage deductions came to light in November when the media took up the case of Kerry McIvor, who resigned his Gull petrol station job in Masterton in disgust. McIvro was only paid $14.75 an hour. Over several occasions Kerry’s pay was docked hundreds of dollars by the owner of the […]
Solidarity with ANZ Workers!
On Friday unionised ANZ workers walked out on their jobs to protest the underhanded offers of the ANZ bosses during collective bargaining negotiations. After posting consecutive profit records that just last year amounted to $1.7 billion, CEO David Hisco gave himself a 11% pay rise, leaving his paycheck $4.7 million a year (an incredible $2,157 […]
Pak n Slaves Revolt
Over 80 First Union members at Porirua Pak n Save have rejected a pay offer and voted for community action and strikes. The Pak n Save owner is refusing to pay a Living Wage. Last Saturday and Sunday workers and community supporters picketed at the store entrances and leafleted shoppers. The public reaction was on […]
A Victory in the Long March for Equal Pay
Another legal victory has been chalked up for equal pay and it is a big one. On 28 October the Court of Appeal delivered its judgement on the appeal by Terranova Homes against the Employment Court’s decision in favour of Kristine Bartlett’s case for equal pay. Two courts now have ruled that Terranova Homes, and […]
Students, Workers and the Class Struggle
The history of capitalism is the history of revolt. Throughout the 19th, 20th and now the 21st centuries the capitalist system has been wracked by crises during which the normal functioning of the system is halted, leaving millions of ordinary people with no option other than to rise up. Workers of course, are a wellspring […]
The Pitmen Painters
The Pitmen Painters – Lee HallCirca Theatre, until 8 November The Ashington Group were pitmen – miners in the United Kingdom who surprised the art world by creating celebrated and striking pieces of artwork, and Lee Hall’s piece traverses their story from the mid 30s to just after the second world war and the start […]
Growing Inequality – and a sign of resistance
The latest Stats NZ Household Income report has revealed that inequality in New Zealand continues to grow. The New Zealand Herald was very careful to split out a number of stories to get the best possible spin, but in combination the picture is stark. The first story was about household income. The median household income […]
Ballot for industrial action by PSA members in the health sector
Over the first few days of August, a secret ballot for industrial action was conducted by Public Service Association (PSA) members in the health sector. The result was a resounding yes to industrial action. More than one third of the 12,000 PSA health members participated in the on-line ballot with 90% voting in favour. Allied […]
Con Devitt: One the Bosses Hated
Con Devitt, an outstanding trade union militant, socialist and organizer, has died at the age of 86. Devitt, a long-time leader of the Boilermakers’ Union in Wellington, made an enormous contribution to the class struggle and the workers’ movement, especially in his important periods of leadership in the 1970s and 1980s. From a working-class home […]
Radical employment law reform needed, says reader
New Zealand workers and unions were hammered by a Bolger National Government king hit in 1991 in the form of the Employment Contracts Act. In 2000 they were provided with some cautious relief in the form of the Clark Government’s Employment Relations Act. Since 2008, the Key Government, aware of the ultimate unpopularity of the […]
