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Note that Friday’s debate, Which Way Forward For Workers Today, has moved to the VUW Student Union Building.
Workers Resistance ’09: Queens Birthday Weekend
Communist Party of the Philippines’ 40th anniversary
The Workers Party of New Zealand sends warm greetings to the Communist Party of the Philippines, on its 40th anniversary.
The CPP has led the struggle against feudalism, capitalism and imperialism in the Philippines for four decades. Having withstood the Marcos dictatorship through to the current brutal regime of Arroyo, the CPP has been sustained through its deep roots among the masses. When many other communist parties around the world collapsed in the 1990s, the CPP carried on the struggle, constantly reassessing itself and further developing its strengths.
The CPP’s commitment to internationalism has given confidence to many organisations and individuals in the struggle for world revolution.
We hope that 2009 will bring much success to the comrades in the Philippines.
In solidarity
Workers Party of New Zealand
Standing up for socialist ideas
The Spark November 2008
The Workers Party is primarily an organisation of activists who fight for workers’ interests on jobs and in the streets. We recognise that the struggle for workers’ rights and workers’ power mostly takes place outside of parliament. Taking mass actions against an employer offers workers more chance of controlling their destiny than voting. However, parliamentary elections provide a chance to raise alternative ideas, and socialists should make use of the opportunity. The reports below show some of the initiatives taken by the Workers Party in the 2008 general election. You can see that we got stuck in and stood up for socialist ideas without mincing our words. If you like the look of our approach, why not join us and help make the socialist voice even louder in 2011!
NZ Election: the morning after
– Daphna Whitmore
For the Workers Party – this was the first time a socialist party was on the party list. A red flag on the ballot paper was an achievement – and one that took a bit of work to get the numbers to satisfy the electoral commission that we qualified. We were the last party to get registered, making it just a few days out from writ day.
It was a last minute campaign for the party vote but the campaigning was good for our organisation. Members got active, our website has been constantly updated and a lot of new contacts have been made. We got our name out across the country so there are now thousands of people who know there is a far left option. We got votes in every electorate of the country. 
In New Zealand as far as I’m aware the far left has not yet ever got more than 200 votes in an electorate and this was reflected again in our vote. With 824 on the first count it is possible we’ll get over 900 once the special votes are counted.
MMP is a funny system. It engenders a lot of the first past the post mentality. Not just in the electorate seats where it is FPP, but in general people still tend to see things in terms of National and Labour. That was reflected in the 80 per cent of votes cast for those two parties.
A really proportional system would be better. It’s hardly democratic that NZ First gets 4.2 per cent of the vote and no seats, while Progressives and United Future each have a seat but a tiny overall vote. And Act gets five seats on 3.72 per cent of the vote.
Low turnout and 10,700 votes for the Bill and Ben Party indicate a lack of public confidence in the options on offer.
GST off beer: on the economic downturn
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBeC9Mev480]
Don Franks, candidate for Wellington central, at the debate amongst alternatives to the Labour Party.
Workers should be running the country – to end poverty
Speech given by Workers Party member John Moore at the recent
Rally Against Low Pay held on Queen Street in Auckland
We all know we are heading into tough times. There’s a global economic crisis on our hands, and it’s going to be working people like you and me that face the brunt of this. While governments of the bosses’ class bail out the rich elite with billions of dollars, our class is facing massive job losses, skyrocketing prices and increasing poverty. Not a dollar or a cent should be given to the finance parasites. The entire financial system needs to be nationalized under workers’ control.
Continue reading “Workers should be running the country – to end poverty”
CONFRONTING THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS: A DISCUSSION OF LEFT ALTERNATIVES
Global Peace and Justice Auckland forum
Monday 3 Nov 7.30pm
Trades Hall 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Left alternative political parties standing in the election have been invited to address this forum and the discuss the best approach to the global economic crisis. Groups invited are: Alliance; Communist League; Green Party ; Maori Party; RAM; Workers Party; Everyone welcome.
Workers Party candidate talk at Baptist Church election meeting
Talk given by Daphna Whitmore at a candidates’ forum in Otahuhu, Auckland 28 October 2008
Thank you for the invitation to speak at tonight’s meeting. I’m a list candidate and also standing in this electorate.
Our party has no ties to religion, we consider religion is a private affair and should be separate from the state. Having said that, the theme tune of our election campaign is the hymn All things Bright and Beautiful.
Don Franks, who is our candidate in Wellington Central wrote some new lyrics to reflect our outlook.
All things bright and beautiful in every shopping mall
All the goods and services- the workers made them all
We sell our labour power for a bare subsistence wage
While bosses loll in luxury its time to turn the page!
Workers of all countries in lands both great and small
This earth and all we’ve made of it let us reclaim it all
This election our party has one central message: that workers should be running the country.
Continue reading “Workers Party candidate talk at Baptist Church election meeting”
Socialism key to sustainability says Workers Party candidate
Workers Party media release
They key to creating an environmentally sustainable society is to put production in the hands of workers, says the Workers Party’s Christchurch Central candidate Byron Clark.
“Right now production is done for private profit, rather than human need, which means environmental concerns are secondary for capitalism.”
Clark is an environmental sociology student but has little time for “modern Luddites and doomsayers.” He is advocating ecological modernisation as the way to deal with environmental problems.
Continue reading “Socialism key to sustainability says Workers Party candidate”
A vision of workers’ freedom
(Workers Party address to Labour Day left of Labour election forum in Wellington)
It’s a nice change to be at a meeting where the right is excluded instead of the left. This year many Wellington election meetings only invited candidates holding parliamentary seats. The New Zealand Council of Trade unions hosted such a meeting. When I complained about being excluded, while National and ACT were given a platform, the CTU organiser emailed back “You’ll have to ask Helen Kelly.” CTU president Helen Kelly didn’t have the courtesy to reply. Instead, the next email in my box was an urgent notice from the CTU organiser, asking me to support a union picket downtown. I wonder if he sent the same appeal to his National and ACT guests.
That small incident is a reminder that political action takes place outside parliament as well as inside. The Workers Party think struggle outside parliament is more important, but we see elections as a chance to fight for our ideas.
OK, I want to tell you what we stand for and how we’re trying to go about it.