Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, February 7th, 2013 - 103 comments
Mr Fixit Steven Joyce has been handed the Novopay fiasco, and the first pay round under his watch is the worst yet. Teachers are currently owed almost $12 Million in missing wages. Is this a conspiracy, or just a good old fashioned cock up?
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, January 30th, 2013 - 14 comments
Because the EPMU put it so well – here’s the summary of their submission to the Manufacturing Inquiry.
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, January 29th, 2013 - 42 comments
The Greens, I’m in for the Future, is a promising initiative. The Greens’ focus on Auckland transport will be a great start. To end the “neoliberal” dominance, it is necessary to apply pressure from below. What can we learn from Canadian anti-“neoliberal” groups like Common Causes & Idle No More? [Updated]
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, January 25th, 2013 - 23 comments
Mana Party president, Annette Sykes could become an MP in the next election. The future of the Maori Party is in doubt. Hone Harawira is considering a Mana-Maori Party merger. Sykes is committed to left wing values, social justice, Maori land & water rights, and social & economic justice for Maori.
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, January 24th, 2013 - 8 comments
“I’d love to see wages drop”. Remember when John Key said that? Well now our glorious PM is getting all excited about how we can attract investment with our low wages and lack of employment protections.
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, January 24th, 2013 - 35 comments
So John Key says Hollywood likes New Zealand because of weak unions, low fringe benefit costs and the ‘flexible labour market’.
In other words they can get their wage slaves to work longer for less with fewer complaints.
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, January 18th, 2013 - 92 comments
Paula Bennett stated that the numbers of people on benefits had dropped over the last quarter. The figures mask the reality of Bennett’s punitive welfare reforms, and the struggles of those living on low incomes. Meanwhile unemployment is still rising. [Update: RNZ]
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, January 2nd, 2013 - 12 comments
Over the last year some issues have been under-reported, some ignored: the climate/environment, subversive FBI activities, bankster rorts, decline of democracy, the need for new left & green politics. Some news has been overdramatised, some masks the real needs. And the “fiscal cliff”?
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, December 23rd, 2012 - 47 comments
Individualism & “celebrity” PM, John Key were still strong in 2012. But, there was opposition from some (often local) groups working collaboratively: Occupy, Glen Innes protesters, MUNZ, Asset Sales referendum, AAAP advocacy activism, manufacturing inquiry, NZLP democratisation, TS nest of vipers. And 2013?
Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, December 17th, 2012 - 22 comments
You have to respect how the Ports of Auckland workers stood staunch in the face of the bosses’ attempt to contract out their jobs, without support from the ‘leftwing’ mayor and against an expensive PR effort. They’re still getting their own back. PoAL has just been fined for employing a strikebreaker. And, in Lyttelton, wharfies have started a smart new campaign.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 15th, 2012 - 75 comments
Mana has established a clear identity, as shown in Hone’s adjournment speech. Based in practice and activism. For all people, especially those on low incomes. A voice for Maori, Pasifika people and children. The Maori Party’s future is in question. What’s the future for Mana and Hone?
Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, December 13th, 2012 - 11 comments
The House went into recess yesterday. Today there is a rush of stories that are bad news for the government. Collins and the Binnie report, unsuccessful boot camps, and counter-productive anti-union and anti-worker policies. What else?
Written By: - Date published: 5:31 pm, December 11th, 2012 - 25 comments
In these troubling times, it was uplifting to see the flax-roots, practical and collaborative action at the Onehunga Recession Busting rally for beneficiaries today. Volunteers in front of the WINZ office in Onehunga Mall, are giving support and assistance to those most in need.
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, December 11th, 2012 - 88 comments
As an outsider watching the struggles in the Labour Party unfold, I am becoming increasingly despondent about the state of Left wing politics in NZ. Right now, NZ, and those of us who party vote Green/Mana, require a strong, democratic and solidly left wing Labour Party.
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, December 10th, 2012 - 205 comments
CTU press release in response to story of Todd Rippon being dismissed from his job for being a union member.
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, December 10th, 2012 - 81 comments
Over at Stuff Ben Heather is reporting on the Children’s Social Health Monitor and the chilling fact that, in the last five years, 600 Kiwi children have died from poverty related causes.
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 pm, December 6th, 2012 - 10 comments
Away from the front pages of the MSM, there is information about opposition to the TPP. Aside from the secrecy, the TPP is looking far too complex and all-encompassing. There are some protest events coming up in the next few days.
Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, December 6th, 2012 - 53 comments
The Key government’s sham and failed ideology of freedom and democracy can be seen in two Bills that were before the House this week. This government is increasingly autocratic and anti-democratic, while enabling the powerful to exploit and control the powerless, including children.
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, December 3rd, 2012 - 9 comments
A week of [updated: video] protests against the secretive TPP began today outside entrance to Sky City Convention Centre, where the latest round of TPP negotiations are being held. The majority of Kiwis are not happy with the secrecy. Jane Kelsey & Canadian Peter Clark identify problems.
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, November 30th, 2012 - 33 comments
I have a suggestion.
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, November 27th, 2012 - 103 comments
Today The Hobbit employment dispute is revived, exposing gaps between principle and practice. Jackson defends his role; some of Labour’s ABC club will attend the premier; John Key-speak weaves a contradictory path of populist nonsense, linking the movie, 100%Pure, 100% Middle-earth and Macdonald’s.
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, November 22nd, 2012 - 140 comments
The Labour Party are giving serious attention to the unacceptable gender inequalities in MP numbers and in pay. The Greens are leading in tackling the underlying masculine framework of politics and employment, and, along with Mana, unpaid work.
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, November 20th, 2012 - 57 comments
John Key is steaming ahead in selling NZ. He is Obama’s wing-man to extend the TPP into the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, the “Hobbit Law” is taking a heavy toll on many NZ actors. And there are claims that the Hobbit production has been harming animals.
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, November 16th, 2012 - 36 comments
No Right Turn on Novopay and the sacking of payroll staff.
Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, November 13th, 2012 - 16 comments
The bunker of stupid is where you go to hide from facts you don’t like. John Key is there, hiding from the latest record unemployment figures. Joining him today is Women’s Affairs Minister Jo Goodhew, reportedly denying the rapidly increasing gender pay gap in NZ.
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, November 13th, 2012 - 9 comments
While Audrey Young was giving the Key cabinet a glowing report card yesterday as they lurch from crisis to crisis (so many crises the Novopay scandal can’t make the front pages after 3 months of stuff ups), the economy continued to struggle.
Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, November 12th, 2012 - 21 comments
Tomorrow is the centenary of the death of Fred Evans on 13 November 1912, during the Waihi gold miners strike. Out of this struggle of ordinary, but courageous NZ workers, grew the NZ Labour Party. Who now has such courage to lead NZ politics in a new direction? Update: Allison McCulloch’s article on the Waihi strike.
Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, November 11th, 2012 - 56 comments
John Key’s selling out of NZ workers’ rights, tourism industry and identity to Hollywood, the TPP and US corporates, has reached a new low. OIA papers reveal the extent to which Warners is dictating the NZ government’s promotion of 100% Middle-earth.
Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, November 9th, 2012 - 14 comments
With the crises in housing and unemployment, there are worrying trends of increasing marginalisation and struggle for selected demographic groups, such as women, Maori and Pasifika people. Meanwhile, there has been a recent increase in male unemployment. This probably is because there are fewer secure, well-paid, full time jobs available.
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, November 6th, 2012 - 12 comments
National’s strategy around the Pike River report is to try to get the media story over in a day. But this won’t go away. For one, there’s Key’s claim that our safety standards were up to Aussie’s and our safety record was good. Then, there’s the larger question of the Government’s whole neoliberal approach that leads to such disasters.
Written By: - Date published: 10:05 pm, November 5th, 2012 - 99 comments
The Pike report is welcome good sense.
But why has it taken the deaths of 29 men to get attention to health and safety regulations in mining?
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