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Litigation and equal pay – a history of the 1950’s equal pay campaign

Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, August 28th, 2018 - 3 comments

Forward In 2016 I wrote the below dissertation as part of my History Honours degree at Victoria University.  This dissertation explores the 1950s equal pay campaign, and specifically looks at the Jean Parker Case. Jean Parker was a PSA member employed at IRD, who like Kristine Bartlett 60 years later, won a landmark equal pay legal […]

Remembering Chris Morley

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 am, August 27th, 2018 - 7 comments

On Friday 27 July 2018, Wellington Tramways Union Vice President Chris Morley passed away after a short battle with Cancer, aged 62. Chris had been a Wellington bus driver since 1978, when public transport in the city was run and controlled by Wellington City Council. In 2008 I was privileged to be elected to the Tramways Union […]

The Greens. Do We Need ’em?

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 pm, August 20th, 2018 - 139 comments

What’s the point of the Green party? Do we really need them? Really?

We need more radicals coming here

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, August 9th, 2018 - 68 comments

We need more radical voices again here. But it’s like MMP has turned us once again into the passionless people. It always looks like “hate speech” when you hate it.

Nurses.

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, July 27th, 2018 - 76 comments

There’s a sickness affecting our health system.

Helen Kelly: Together

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, July 23rd, 2018 - 7 comments

In 2015 Helen Kelly agreed to let documentary maker Tony Sutorius – the award winning director of Campaign – into her life to document her last year of activism. The result is Helen Kelly: Together – a stunning affirmation of both her dedication to justice, and her friendships with those she fought alongside.

Is Matthew Hooton becoming a socialist?

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, July 20th, 2018 - 41 comments

Occasional Standard reader Matthew Hooton has written a cogent column on industrial relations in which he realises and accepts that wages for ordinary workers are too low.

The teachers’ strike

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, July 4th, 2018 - 56 comments

Teachers have indicated they will also be seeking a significant catch up in salaries and job conditions after a decade of neglect.

Soper gets sucked in by National’s fake Ardern quote

Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, June 28th, 2018 - 51 comments

Barry Soper in the Herald has fallen for National’s fake news concerning something said by Jacinda Ardern that was taken totally out of context.

Shock horror, National is telling fibs about Labour’s Industrial Relations policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, June 27th, 2018 - 102 comments

National has claimed that Jacinda Ardern ruled out national strikes during the last year’s election campaign.  And has trimmed a video and taken comments out of context to justify its claim.

Jessica Williams tweets about the stupidity of the Taxpayer’s Union

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, June 18th, 2018 - 26 comments

Twitter in the right hands can be a very dangerous thing.  As shown by Jessica Williams when she questioned the intellectual grunt of the taxpayers union in this series of tweets.

Is it OK to bring a hand grenade to a business meeting?

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, June 11th, 2018 - 15 comments

Darien Fenton writes about Business New Zealand’s early approach to the Fair Pay panel.

Forward to the 70s

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, June 6th, 2018 - 112 comments

National thinks that getting back to full employment, having wages and conditions sufficient to allow a working family to live in decency on one full time wage, and home ownership rates of about 70% are a bad thing.

Were Etu union delegates threatened at a select committee?

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, June 4th, 2018 - 133 comments

National MP Parmjeet Parmar has been accused of threatening to tell the employers of submitters to a Select Committee what they had said in evidence if they did not withdraw their statements.

 

Comrade Simon supports Nurses Strike

Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, May 28th, 2018 - 21 comments

For the first time possibly ever a National leader has supported the right of the rank and file to engage in industrial action to improve their living conditions.

Squeeze

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, May 13th, 2018 - 40 comments

This is as good a year as it is going to get to squeeze your employer for a fair wage.

Auckland Rail Industrial Action

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, February 26th, 2018 - 50 comments

RMTU members are working to rule to oppose Auckland Transport and Transdev’s attempts to weaken security arrangements on Auckland’s trains.

Where’s my share?

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, February 14th, 2018 - 35 comments

Had anyone with a job (other than the top 2 tiers of management) had a wage increase higher than inflation recently?

Stop Using the ‘F’ Word.

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, February 13th, 2018 - 41 comments

Because words matter.

Employment Relations changes announced

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, January 25th, 2018 - 20 comments

The Government has announced changes to the Employment Relations law which on the whole are positive and beneficial for workers.  But following New Zealand First lobbying the 90 day fire at will provision will be retained for small firms.

Solidarity

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, January 22nd, 2018 - 7 comments

History not forgotten.

Why President Trump should be opposed by the left

Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, January 20th, 2018 - 52 comments

Ten reasons why Donald Trump is anti worker and bad for America’s working class.

Shane Jones and work for the dole

Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, December 4th, 2017 - 94 comments

Shane Jones has muddied a perfectly good job creation policy by talking about work for the dole.

The Pike River Supreme Court decision – Helen Kelly would be pleased

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, November 24th, 2017 - 19 comments

Helen Kelly blogged four years ago why the deal that allowed Peter Whittall to walk free following the Pike River disaster was unjust and flawed. Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed.

Labour accelerates action on Pike River re-entry

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, November 21st, 2017 - 182 comments

National is trying to spin that Labour has adopted its position on re-entry of the Pike River mine. But the Pike River families are having nothing of this.

Wellington Rail Workers Strike to Defend Their Working Conditions

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, November 16th, 2017 - 223 comments

“two multinational companies are demanding the removal of long-standing terms and conditions in the collective agreement.”

The repeal of the Hobbit law

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, October 29th, 2017 - 70 comments

Labour has indicated that as a priority it wishes to repeal the Hobbit law, a clumsy attempt in breach of International Law to prevent workers in the film industry from organising collectively and to divert attention from the fact that the National Government had been played by Warner Brothers.

Labour Day

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, October 23rd, 2017 - 19 comments

Extra sweet this year.

Don Presland obituary

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, October 23rd, 2017 - 23 comments

Long time Unionist and Labour supporter Don Presland died last week. Family friend Ad writes about Don’s decades of standing up for workers’ rights and in celebration of the life of a really good man.

Helen Kelly – one year

Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, October 14th, 2017 - 11 comments

Helen Kelly died a year ago today. She is missed.

SaveMart shows why unions are vital for New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, September 27th, 2017 - 47 comments

SaveMart employees were made to sort bales of filthy clothing dumped in Child Cancer charity bins without safety gloves. Unionized workers at New Lynn were sacked for contacting their union about it. Why did it require so much public pressure to get them reinstated? Why are our laws so inadequete?

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