Archive for January, 2012

Why the acronyms PIPA and SOPA should worry Kiwis

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, January 18th, 2012 - 9 comments

Green’s MP Gareth Hughes explains the new US internet laws that have the likes of Wikipedia upset, and why we should care: The Green Party is deeply concerned about the Stop Internet Piracy (SOPA) and PROTECT IP (PIPA) Acts currently causing quite a stir in the US and its impacts on New Zealanders access to a free and open Internet and online businesses.

Local board members support wharfies

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, January 18th, 2012 - 6 comments

The travesty of the Port of Auckland dispute is that we have a publicly-owned company trying to slash its workers’ pay so that it can try to undercut another majority publicly owned company that has already slashed wages, the only winners being the foreign shipping lines. Well, here’s some of our representatives standing up for Auckland workers.

Open mike 18/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 18th, 2012 - 63 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Texas of the South Seas?

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, January 17th, 2012 - 132 comments

Every few years, since the 70s, they’ve promised the great New Zealand oil boom is coming. It ain’t going to happen. If there is lots of oil, it’s deepsea and expensive. And they haven’t found it in 40 years of looking. We have a worse production-consumption ratio now then the 80s. Even if we somehow become a massive oil exporter, it’s not the economic panacea you might think.

There is no alternative

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, January 17th, 2012 - 182 comments

Work conditions in the Right’s ideal world:

  • Stevedores only paid while actually unloading containers
  • Firemen only paid when fighting fires
  • Emergency doctors only paid while saving lives
  • Soldiers only paid if under fire
  • All Blacks only paid while handling the ball/tackling
  • MPs only paid while in the House
  • CEOs not paid while at their Papamoa beach-house

Open mike 17/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 17th, 2012 - 105 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Gibson puts his money where his mouth is

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, January 16th, 2012 - 20 comments

An interesting passage from Herald on Sunday article on Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson and Maritime Union President Garry Parsloe: … “Gibson won’t confirm reports he earns $750,000, saying “I don’t do this for the money,” … Parsloe grins. “They should stop paying him then. That would save the port quite a lot of money every year for a start”

1951 it ain’t, for now

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, January 16th, 2012 - 120 comments

Some have compared the Port of Auckland dispute to the 1890 waterfront dispute, 1913 general strike, and 1951 lockout. They want Labour and the Greens to get involved. Actually, this is no 1951 redux. The POA fight is just about one company trying to undercut another. The net effect on New Zealand is zero. The last thing the workers need is Labour creating an excuse for National to attack them.

Open mike 16/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 16th, 2012 - 146 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Meet the wharfies and their families

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, January 15th, 2012 - 157 comments

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.

Summer service: open mike 15/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 15th, 2012 - 22 comments

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step […]

Tenants in our own land

Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, January 14th, 2012 - 54 comments

See Landcorp planning to pay $18m a year rent to a government-linked Chinese firm to run the Crafar farms? So New Zealand is in the enviable position of having to pay rent to foreign owners to farm our own land. Key promised we wouldn’t be tenants in our own land. What’ll be Key’s priority: cutting Kiwi workers’ wages or keeping our land in Kiwi hands?

Summer service: open mike 14/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 14th, 2012 - 65 comments

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step […]

Weekend social 13/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, January 13th, 2012 - 15 comments

Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?

The problems of pBooks

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, January 13th, 2012 - 30 comments

My iPad was powerless, so for the first time in a month I reached into the vast numbers of pBooks that litter our shelves and are going to be a real pain to move in a month, and tried to start to read one.  I looked at the video of instructions from the 14th century and while that showed me what side to open it from. But where was …….

Why bringing the bankers to heel is so important…

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, January 13th, 2012 - 88 comments

Ecological economist Brian Davey explains how while we need to fix the problems of peak oil and climate change, we’re not going to get anywhere until we deal with the psychopathic elite of bankers who have control of the world economy.

Report shows ports not to blame for freight costs

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, January 13th, 2012 - 5 comments

The Productivity Commission reports that freight costs are 25% higher here than in Australia and freight costs as a % of cargo value has risen in recent years. Their solution? Make the public and port workers poorer by privatisation and casualisation. Of course, those are ideological goals, not solutions to the freight cost issue, which has nothing to do with ports.

Stick a fork in Port management, they’re done

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, January 13th, 2012 - 264 comments

A leaked Ports of Auckland strategy document shows their goal is to reduce the stevedores’ wages by 20%. They were planning to manufacture a crisis even before the stevedores’ collective expired. They’ve been rumbled breaking the law by not bargaining in good faith. Their political support will now evaporate. They should cut their losses, and a deal with the workers, now.

Summer service: open mike 13/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 13th, 2012 - 71 comments

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step […]

Why does the Right think port workers’ pay should be cut?

Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, January 12th, 2012 - 74 comments

National high flyer Jami-Lee Ross, Ports of Auckland’s chief shill, and Fran O’Sullivan all joined the fray over the port dispute yesterday. How does their line that the workers are overpaid marry with the Port’s claim that they’re offering pay rises? Does the Port project its wage bill would rise or fall if its offer were to be accepted? And what to make of this ‘national interest’ line?

Workers worried about job security

Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, January 12th, 2012 - 33 comments

Employment confidence has plunged to its lowest level in 2 years, according to the latest Westpac survey. A bosses’ shill says workers are wrong to be worried about their jobs. Unfortunately, the bosses have been promising us that everything’s going to be OK for four years now, and workers have a good track record on picking the state of the job market.

POAL, DPF, and the politics of envy

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, January 12th, 2012 - 142 comments

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?

Summer service: open mike 12/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 12th, 2012 - 34 comments

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step […]

ImperatorFish: McCaw, Carter Supreme Winners At Literature Awards

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 pm, January 11th, 2012 - 3 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here

Scott’s take on John Key’s contribution to The New Zealand Literature Heritage Trail booklet.

Cheques and Balances

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 pm, January 11th, 2012 - 2 comments

Is the title of the independent High Pay Commission’s report set up to look at “the reasons for the gap between high and low pay in the UK and why this matters.” It is very good and well worth a read. Christchurch City Council CEO’s Tony Marryatt, whose pay late last year rocketed up by $68,000 to $585,000 on a 7-5 split vote, should take note. So should Mayor Bob Parker and the other 6 – the protest goes on.

Ports of Auckland wage numbers

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 pm, January 11th, 2012 - 137 comments

There has been some interesting material floating around in comments and on facebook about the Ports of Auckland waterside disputing workers wages. Looks like we are starting to get some more information outside of the right wing nut job sites. Ultimately the information has to be provided by the Ports of Auckland because they are the only organisation that holds the wages data across employees. But the figures provided by the P0A (the 91k)  include overtime payments, shift payments, superannuation subsidies, medical insurance subsidies and hardly constitute a normal wage that the employee would see..

1000 member challenge

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, January 11th, 2012 - 9 comments

My challenge (as part of my new life as expert communications / campaign / recruitment consultant to the stars) over the next 6 weeks is to encourage 1000 union members to bring their family into the union family for just $1 a week. That’s 1000 people who are already members of a union affiliated to the CTU to sign up their own family and whanau members to Together

NZ has best value for money education in the world

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 11th, 2012 - 65 comments

Generating a false crisis to justify their ideological policies is a classic rightwing tactic. Key gravely pronounces the system is ‘broken’ and their policy is the solution. Education has been victim to this bullshit. But OECD stats show that we have the best value for money education in the world. How will National justify their ideological assault on teachers now?

Emerson on privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, January 11th, 2012 - 24 comments

Port’s paid propagandist says cut workers’ pay

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, January 11th, 2012 - 400 comments

They say that the nice thing about Cameron Slater is he’ll believe whatever he’s paid to believe. Yesterday, I asked whether Slater is being paid to run dirt stories for Ports of Auckland. He didn’t deny it. So what is the Port’s propagandist up to? Yesterday, he was calling for the workers’ pay to be slashed while defending the directors’ massive fees.
Update: Ports of Auckland denies paying Slater anything.

Summer service: open mike 11/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 11th, 2012 - 20 comments

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step […]

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