Rediscovering the 1949 Carpenters’ Strike
The following was delivered as a talk at the International Socialism Day School 2013 by Kevin Hodder. The 151 day waterfront lockout, and its eventual defeat, of militant workers is legendary, and widely recognised as the beginning of the end for one period of union militancy in New Zealand. Its story is widely known in […]
Auckland Rallies for Workers’ Rights
Stop-work meetings in Petone, Auckland and then Christchurch this last week have been part of the campaign against National’s proposed changes to the Employment Relations Act. Yesterday’s rally drew thousands of workers. Overall, the meeting, which lasted around forty minutes, was a lively event with an upbeat mood amongst almost 5000 workers. There were contingents from the […]
Your Rights At Work Under Threat
The Employment Relations Act Amendment Bill had its First Reading in Parliament on 5th June and passed by 61 votes (National, ACT & Dunne) to 58. The Bill now goes to the committee stage and will come back at the end of the year for the critical Third Reading that will decide whether it will […]
Wellington McDonald’s workers standing strong
Members of our Wellington branch were proud this morning to stand in solidarity with Unite union members striking for a living wage at McDonald’s. McDonald’s makes hefty profits, but its workers, on casual contracts, are paid minimum wages. The strike was solid – union members on a morning shift came out, and were joined by […]
Campaigning for a Living Wage
The Service and Food Workers’ Union recently initiated a campaign for a ‘living wage.’ This call has been endorsed by scores of community and union groups, from the Meat Workers to the PPTA to the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa. The Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign’s statement ‘call[s] upon the Government, employers and society […]
“Restructuring”: Job Losses at Elam School of Fine Arts
[Thanks to Natasha Ovely for submitting this guest post.] Somewhere alongside the white wall studios slapped with half-hearted painterly expressions and littered with lewd, lazy structures, lie a set of workshops brimming with activity that beckon the golden years of art-making. These technical workshops are fast paced and at times chaotic environments that few people […]
Socialism and the Campaign Against Asset Sales
Why do socialists oppose asset sales? The answer seems obvious: socialists want state ownership because it provides popular control of the economy. People on both the right and the left generally agree socialists stand for ‘big government’ and ‘state intervention’. But being a revolutionary means questioning accepted wisdom and although reformists in Labour and the […]
May Day: 2013
Kaimahi kaha – workers’ power! May Day greetings to all our readers. Although Labour Day has had more official recognition and celebration in Aotearoa / New Zealand over the decades, May Day is the internationalist celebration of workers’ struggle and solidarity. You can read about the history of May Day here. May Day marks our […]
Wellington Green Party Mayor votes for Outsourcing
There has been goings on at Wellington City Council of late to do with privatisation or “outsourcing” of services with a wobbly performance by the centre-left majority on the Council. In December last year the councillors voted to sack the chief executive of 15 years in a move seen as a bid to rein in […]
Stand Up for Kids: Supporting Public Education
Public education in Aotearoa is under attack. From charter schools – the failed money-making scheme imported from right-wing US think-tanks – to National’s ongoing plans to increase classroom sizes to national standards and league tables, the last years have seen relentless assaults on public education. Add to this the disaster of Novopay, and the insecurity […]
