On
Wednesday 20 October 22,000 workers came together at rallies around
the country to demonstrate against the Nats proposed Hire and Fire
law. Rallies
took place in: Tokoroa, Gisborne, Tauranga, Hamilton, Taupo, Thames,
Hastings, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Kaitaia, Auckland, Paeroa,
Rotorua, Runanga, Reefton, Kaikohe, New Plymouth, Palmerston North,
Levin, Hawera, Timaru, Bluff, Whanganui, Masterton, Dunedin,
Invercargill, Whangarei. Below are accounts from two of the above
rallies.
Not
since the Hikoi on the Foreshore and Seabed Act had there been such a
large protest outside Parliament as there was during the Fairness at
Work rally on October 20th, 2010. Conservative
estimates put the number of workers who turned up at about 4000
people and it was a very peaceful rally in every sense of the word.
No ‘barricades got stormed’ and even the official slogans given to us
by the platform to chant were so tame that most of the National MPs
who were watching the protest from the Beehive seemed to be more
amused than frightened. However, the chants by some unions as they
approached the rally as marching groups were more militant.
The
workers who turned up for the rally came from a bewildering number of
unions. A quick count revealed that at least sixteen unions were
represented, of whom the Public Service Association was the most
visible. Other unions represented included the Service and Food
Workers Union, the Maritime Union of NZ, and the NZ Nurses
Organisation.
Equally
as diverse were the speakers. There
were a handful of Labour Party MPs, including Annette King, who
addressed the marchers by stating that Labour
will scrap the 90 Day Law and other “punitive” laws passed by the
National-led government but proposed instead nothing more radical
than the most cosmetic changes.
CTU
Leadership
Helen
Kelly gave a rousing talk about the need to reinstate good faith
collective bargaining and to scrap the 90 Day Law. However, the
more interesting part of her speech were related to when she was
speaking of a woman who was sacked under the 90 Day Law after the
business she worked for changed ownership. She was never told why
she lost her job, just told that she was no longer wanted. The woman
reckoned she got sacked because she was too fat.
It
made the impact on the recent labour law changes seem more real and
more sinister. What was missing from Kelly’s speech was a clear way
forward for the struggle against the proposed and existing anti-trade
union laws. We were urged to each send a post-card in protest to
John Key to give him a "clear message". Industrial action
could have sent a "message" that would have got Key’s attention,
but that was not proposed.
Low
Pay
A
Pacific Island worker from the Service and Food Workers Union, which
represents many cleaners, spoke of the 90 Day Law being used to force
cleaners to work long hours for very low pay in a job that can be
both dangerous and difficult to do.
Perhaps
the most intriguing speaker, though, was a Catholic Church
representative who came out to speak about how the exploitation of
workers under existing and proposed laws was a sin. The Catholic
Church has a long history of justifying the oppression of workers
through its support of some of the worst groups in history, including
the Fascists in Italy and the German Nazis. But it is a sign of the
times and the crisis of capitalism that this pillar of the
establishment is now showing signs of division, with some of its
priests being prepared to take the side of the workers.
Though
what the speakers stated and their motives can be called into
question there is no denying that both workers and their
organisations are mobilising against the attacks launched against
them in the last couple of years by the National-led government.
This rally, one of many held throughout New Zealand on the same day,
was a sign that the working class has begun to fight back
Kaikohe
80
workers turned up to the Kaikohe stop-work rally in what was the
biggest ever turn out of unionised workers from PSA, SFWU, NDU, CANZ
and EPMU covering the major workplaces in the area. PSA
delegate, Gary Gabbitas, addressed the rally explaining what these
attacks meant and opened up the meeting to a lively questions and
contributions sessions.
The
general mood was one of anger that the Nats led government was
carrying out such attacks, as well as, the frustration against local
employers who are attempting to undermine work place collective
agreements.
Remits
were passed unanimously in condemning the government and to also
fight these attacks, as well as, resolving to set up a local CTU
committee to co-ordinate union activity in the Mid-North area.