Tough on crime
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the world, and an international study has just highlighted the fact.
Economy
class war
Back to basics
The Herald editorial says many “saw a more efficient and more flexible port emerging from” contracting out at PoAL. This is an oft-spouted fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening. Contracting out would not reduce time or cost to move freight. It would just reduce the downtime the port pays for amounting to a simple transfer of wealth from wages to profits.
Port developments
Ports of Auckland management may be starting to realise that they have bitten off more than they can chew. Faced with international union action, they have called a halt to the redundancy process.
On those that need to work harder
Recently, an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal describing how CEOs around the world spend their time. The article drew on data from a larger study, the Executive Time Use Project . This project relied on reports of time use by CEO’s personal assistants; making it more accurate. It came across my usual reading and I thought I might share some of the findings with you.
Incompetent management forces Shearer & Brown off fence
After months on the side-line, David Shearer and Len Brown have been forced to choose a side in the Ports of Auckland dispute by the irrational and unreasonable behaviour of the Ports management. Shearer has come out against casualisation and marched with the workers in Saturday. Brown has offered mediation between the parties.
Some people just don’t learn
POAL is on the backfoot industrially, legally, and in terms of public relations.
God only knows what kind of hubris made Gibson and his board think they could get away with attacking their workers like this.
It seems that no matter how many times these corporate ratbags get their arses handed to them by union members they just don’t seem to learn.
Port protest gone international
The labour dispute is turning into a fiasco for Ports of Auckland. Thousands marched today through Auckland in protest, and cargo loaded by non-union labour is being blacklisted internationally. How long will Ports of Auckland stay on their self-destructive course?
How history will remember Len Brown: scab, coward, judas
You betrayed the people you pretended to represent Len.
Management incompetence costs POAL millions
Ports of Auckland wants to increase profits by slashing pay-packets by 20% – $6m. So far, the process has cost them at least $28m. Add $9m for redundancies. Add the cost of continuing interruption as the contractors are established. Add the cost of blacklisting. Add the cost of customers that have shifted ports. Len Brown should sack the POAL management for incompetence.
Why the Right wants to deny that unions increase wages
Union wage rises beat non-union every time. It’s basic market theory. If workers bargain individually they are in perfect competition with each other and become price takers. Together they have market power. Hence: “united we bargain, divided we beg”. But the Right doesn’t want you to know that. They want to break the unions to strangle wage rises.
Bosses move to drive wages down
John Key said he “would love to see wages drop“, and his government has achieved that but they’re just getting started. This is the year when the gloves come off. Ports of Auckland is trying to slash its wage bill by 20%. Talley’s-AFFCO is locking out 750 workers indefinitely. And DHBs are trying to scare nurses ahead of their pay negotiations with the spectre of job cuts.
The neoliberal plague
Since New Zealand skulled the neoliberal cool-aid, hospital admissions for infectious diseases, the diseases of poverty, increased 51% while dropping in the countries we should consider our peers. The working class life has gotten worse; our wages are lower, our jobs gone, and our families living in unhealthy houses owned by slum landlords.
NRT: And so its come to this…
No Right Turn on the plight of democracy in Greece.
More columns from O’Sullivan, please
Every time some rightwing ideologue calls 80% of New Zealanders racist or xenophobic because we don’t want to lose control of our future and sell our strategic assets to fall into the hands of a foreign dictatorship that is going around the world buying up key resources to secure their own supply chains at the cost of our sovereignty, and reminds us that National is letting this happen, I smile. Keep it up, Fran.
Show me the money!
Farrar, Slater and their POAL masters are getting all antsy about how much port workers get paid.
Maybe it’s time they came clean about their own rorting, eh?
John Key and POAL
With the house due to sit in a couple of weeks John Key’s people will be weighing up their response to the POAL dispute.
My guess is they’ll base their decision on what they can get away with politically.
Whatever they do it’ll be no good for the port workers and certainly no good for Key’s goal of closing the wage gap with Australia.
Nats built the poverty trap, let’s destroy it
A new study confirms that growing up in poverty means you’ll likely be impoverished as an adult. With the negative consequences for the individual and society. The Nats’ low-wage, high unemployment policies create the poverty trap. Poverty is a design feature of the rightwing economy. Hypocritical and useless to demand their victims save themselves from poverty. Change the policies, fix the problem.
Meet the wharfies and their families
The Port of Auckland and its National Party allies would have you believe that the stevedores are monsters for not be willing to accept a 20% pay cut so that POA can try to undercut Port of Tauranga (where’s the ‘national interest’ in that, again?). But, let’s hear from these workers, and their families, as they struggle to protect their livelihood.
POAL, DPF, and the politics of envy
DPF has joined the chorus of overpaid righties calling for working people to have their pay cut.
That’s despite him being on a pretty good wicket himself.
What is it with the right and the politics of envy?
What’s really going on at Ports of Auckland 2
Since my post yesterday, Ports of Auckland has upped the ante threatening to sack all its workers and contract out (to quick and loud cheers from the National-aligned blogs they are working with – Cameron Slater’s rate is $10,000 for an operation like this). What they’re proposing is a breach of the law and wouldn’t work, but its just setting the scene for the next stage.
What’s really going on at Ports of Auckland
The Right is up to its old tricks over the Ports of Auckland. It’s the usual pattern: make up some bullshit about how the workers are spoiled and unreasonable, cry that the sky will fall if the company doesn’t get its way, and (this is the long-game) suggest privatisation as the solution. What you haven’t heard is the cause of the ‘crisis’: the Port’s attempt to cut the workers’ conditions and pay.
The year of the protest
If that was the year of “The Protestor”, what did it accomplish? Is effective protest no longer possible in today’s world?
What a riot.
A quick post on sentences handed down in the wake of riots in England.
Petty politics as usual on poverty
Key is playing petty politics as usual on poverty. He should have accepted Shearer’s call for a cross party process and his offer of help on the new “ministerial poverty committee”.
The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency
Truth-Out content is licensed for redistribution, so I’m going to repost this excellent piece in its entirety. It’s long, but it’s worth it. Is Obama going to grow a pair at last?
The long game on charter schools & national standards
Charter schools and national standards/league tables are part of the same process. It’s about siphoning off public funds, the best pupils, and the best teachers into ‘elite’ schools, and leaving everyone else behind. It’s about cutting money for ‘failing’ schools and ‘failing’ students. It ultimately means more lost potential and a poorer NZ, but one that serves the elite’s interests.
Support locked-out CMP workers tomorrow
Six weeks ago CMP workers were locked out for refusing to accept a 20% pay cut.
Tomorrow there will be fundraising protests around the country to support them.
Law firm sets out business wish list
Law firm Chapman Tripp has taken it upon itself to summarise the business community’s expectations for National’s second term. Back to youth rates, and that’s just for starters.
Listen to us – Homebrew
We’ve been getting links to this song for a week or two. Wish I’d gotten round to posting it earlier. Just fantastic.
Hiding in his mansion/While half the population flies across the Tasman/The other half try to act like it’s not happening
There’s no depression in New Zealan’/ Just a slow sinking feelin’
Racism more than skin deep for Nats
This post originally appeared on the Hand Mirror and we reproduce it with their permission. It is an account of a National Party meeting in the Wairarapa, and a stark reminder of the dark heart of the Right that hates and fears anything different, which wants a New Zealand built for a rich, Pakeha, male, straight business-owning elite.
Keeping the help in line
Keeping up brand Key means keeping the help in line.
Just pity the poor buggers that have to help hold that facade up.
Wall St Occupation evicted
As has been widely reported, the Wall Street occupation at Zuccotti Park was evicted in an overnight raid yesterday. By refocusing media attention on the Occupation, will this eviction only make them stronger?
A new type of coup?
In the old days soldiers marched onto the floor of parliament with fixed bayonets to replace governments and frustrate the popular will.
Now it is being done differently
Creating opportunities
The Nats admit that they’ve failed to close the gap between rich and poor. In fact, of course, it’s getting worse. Bill English says they’ve “created opportunities”, which is Tory speak for doing nothing at all.
State house evictions
In 2005 Labour wrote to State House tenants with a warning “Don’t let National sell your house.” We were criticised for scaring people. Now Tamaki residents have got the real letters. And the boot. Same old National.
Those nice men in suits
