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Conference report: Workers Resistance 2009

Workers Resistance conference was held over Queens Birthday Weekend in Wellington. Over 65 people attended the public conference which, for the most part, was held at the Wellington City Library. Themes included both local and international workers’ struggles.

The three-day conference started off on the Friday evening with debate between Workers Party National Secretary Daphna Whitmore and Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway.

Saturday’s schedule started off with Don Franks presenting on the Unite-led campaign for a $15 minimum wage. The Workers Party then launched its campaign of solidarity with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Workers Party member Paul Hopkinson presented the background to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Mike Walker, also from the Christchurch branch, spoke of more recent developments before outlining the political and stategic position of the PFLP . Continue reading “Conference report: Workers Resistance 2009”

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Redundant clothing workers – NDU fails to take a fighting position

Omar Hamed and Jared Phillips
The Spark June 2009

The National Distribution Union’s (NDU) main public response to the May 15 redundancy of 186 clothing manufacturing workers employed by Lane Walker Rudkin (LWR) has been to invite workers and supporters to hold cake stalls as a fundraising activity for the redundant workers. Of LWR’s 470 staff, 102 in Christchurch, 61 in Greytown, 19 in Pahiatua, and four in Auckland have been made redundant.

LWR is New Zealand’s oldest currently-unionised company, and has operated since 1904. In recent years the company has been managed incompetently as a result of the break up in the personal relationship of Ken and Patricia Anderson, who took over the company from a group of businessmen in 2001. The bank, Westpac, won’t even release the redundancy payments. Continue reading “Redundant clothing workers – NDU fails to take a fighting position”

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New Zealand government’s RSE scheme: “Brutal racist oppression”

By Don Franks

In a press release on 4 June 2009 the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions deplored the Government’s removal of the minimum wage protection for workers on the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

“There have been significant examples of unauthorised and unfair deductions from RSE workers’ pay even under the existing regulations,” said Wagstaff. “Relaxing the minimum wage rule will only result in more blatant exploitation of already vulnerable workers as unscrupulous employers shift costs onto them.”

“Allowing employers to make deductions which will reduce pay rates below the minimum of $12.50 per hour will significantly increase exploitation of RSE workers and undermine the credibility of the scheme”, said CTU Vice-President Richard Wagstaff.

Richard Wagstaff is dead right about the exploitation, but from a workers point of view, RSE has no credibility to be undermined.

The New Zealand Labour Department says:

“The RSE scheme facilitates the temporary entry of overseas workers, mainly from the Pacific, to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops in the horticulture and viticulture industries to meet labour shortages in order to remain competitive with the rest of the world.” Continue reading “New Zealand government’s RSE scheme: “Brutal racist oppression””

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Launch of PFLP solidarity campaign

The Workers Party NZ is launching a national solidarity campaign to support the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Resistance to the Zionist state of Israel as a political, military and economic entity which is inherently racist and through its policies and actions denies Palestinians their land, their freedom and their rights; is not terrorism.

The PFLP has been one of the leading left secular progressive forces in the Palestinian struggle for justice and emancipation since its inception in 1969. They were the second biggest political force within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), next to Fatah when it was lead by Yasser Arafat. When the PLO entered into the “Peace Process” the PFLP vigorously opposed this path and while remaining a member withdrew its support for the PLO while it continues to pursue this action.

Instead the PFLP sees the path to liberation as a single secular state in all of Palestine, with the right of return for Palestinian refugees and where all people regardless of race or religion have equal rights.

The PFLP continues to struggle both militarily and politically for the single secular state and fights alongside all Palestinian forces that oppose the Zionist state of Israel.

We believe that it is the responsibility of the progressive left in the west to show solidarity with the progressive left in Palestine. The Workers Party sees the PFLP as the most consistent and progressive left force in Palestine and we believe that it is the duty of progressive people in New Zealand to support their struggle.

One of the important points of the Solidarity Campaign is to support the right of Palestinians to all forms of resistance including armed resistance. In many western nations the PFLP has been branded as a terrorist organisation, we believe it is the right of any people facing a military occupation to resist.

We call for:

1. The removal of the PFLP from terrorist designations and

2.       The immediate release of Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the PFLP who is being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli jail

The campaign is being launched at 11:30 a.m. Saturday the 30th of May at the Wellington Central Library on the Mezzanine floor. All those who wish to support Palestinian Resistance can purchase a T-shirt at the launch, give donations or order on-line from www.workersparty.org.nz   or contact the Workers Party directly in your area.

All profits from the T-Shirts and Donations received will be given to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

END.

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Oppose the expulsion of Workers Party activists from Victoria University

 Join the protests:  Auckland Solidarity Protest for expelled anti-war Victoria Uni students Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:00pm – 1:00pm Assemble in main quad, Auckland University

Wellington 12 -1pm on Friday, May 29, at Kelburn Parade (by Victoria University)

Students Alastair Reith, Joel Cosgrove and Ian Anderson have been expelled from Victoria University for burning the New Zealand flag. They did this in protest against New Zealand imperialism and New Zealand’s involvement in such imperialist ventures as Iraq, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, the occupation of Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The students are not allowed to reenrol until next trimester, and are banned from sitting their exams. As a result they will fail all their courses, and as they are not being issued a refund they are essentially receiving a fine of several thousand dollars each.

The University is claiming that they were expelled for “health and safety” reasons. However this is clearly not the case. The flag was burned outside, in the rain, on the soaking wet smoker’s smokers’ deck outside the Mount Street Bar, and despite the false claims of the University the students had a bottle of water with them with which to put the fire out, and extinguished it themselves with water taken from inside the bar.

And if this was really about “health and safety”, why is Ian Anderson being expelled for filming the event? He had no direct role in burning the flag, and his only involvement was recording on camera what took place. Another student and Workers Party member, Marika Pratley, has been issued an official warning for simply being present on the deck while the flag was burned!

You don’t have to agree one hundred percent with the expelled student’s students’ politics, or with the act of burning the flag. But whatever way you look at it, this is an outrageous abuse of power by the University which sets a worrying precedent. This is an issue of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and the right to engage in political activity without fear of reprisal. If you support basic civil liberties and democratic rights, you should do everything you can to oppose the University’s decision and support Alastair, Joel and Ian being reinstated.

This coming Friday (the 29th), midday on Kelburn Parade, there is a protest being held against the expulsion of the students. If you think this is an over the top punitive action and support the right of student’s students’ to protest and take part in political activism in a free, open and democratic environment, you should come along and make your voice heard. Don’t let the University silence free speech!

Workers Party press release on the expulsions.