Farmers Weekly on Open Country

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, September 23rd, 2009 - 11 comments
Categories: cartoons, workers' rights - Tags: , ,

Reader sent in this cartoon from the latest NZ Farmers Weekly.

Things have got to be bad for Open Country when even the farming press is turning on them.

talleycartoon

11 comments on “Farmers Weekly on Open Country ”

  1. felix 1

    Turning on them?

    That’s a very charitable interpretation – I read quite differently and I suspect many in the farming community will too.

    • Maynard J 1.1

      Agreed. My first impression was not that this cartoon was in support of dairy workers, but that they were going to get their arses kicked.

      • Bright Red 1.1.1

        yeah I also saw it as anti the workers bcause that’s what I assumed the angle would be but it can be read both ways.

        Coming from a Left point of view, the bosses look evil and the workers are standing for good things.

        From the Right point of view I think it could look like the bosses are gleeful at the workers getting what they deserve for wanting bad things…

        and either way it is drawn to look like the bosses are going to win.

  2. StephenR 2

    Care to expand felix?

  3. Daveo 3

    Chris Slane is a leftie. He’s clearly painting the Talleys as evil (their dogs are frothing at the mouth FFS) and the workers as on the side of good.

    • Bright Red 3.1

      I thought the left was the side of good? the workers are standing on the right 🙂

      But yeah, you look at it expecting it to be anti worker because it’s in the farmers’ weekly but, nah, it’s pro them.

      I guess if you want the Farmers’ Weekly to run your leftwing cartoon it can’t have the strong united workers beating the bosses but you can get away with workers on the side of good as victims of bad bosses

  4. StephenR 4

    Pretty much what MJ and BR wrote above ^ ^

    Righto. Those weren’t there when I commented.

  5. StephenR 5

    From the Right point of view I think it could look like the bosses are gleeful at the workers getting what they deserve for wanting bad things

    Seems a bit extreme therefore pretty unlikely to me but maybe their cartoonist has a history of being an absolute nutjob! Spot on with the workers losing either way though.

  6. Ag 6

    Like I said in the other thread, most bosses in NZ have disagreements with their workers over pay and conditions, but they aren’t out and out pricks like the Talleys (FD: a relative works for the Talleys and he has a few stories to tell).

    It might sound odd to some people, but all the bosses in the NZ companies I’ve worked for quite liked their workers and the senior management were always really nice to us. In the few cases I met the owners, they always seemed happy that we were working for them and emphasized that we were all on the same team working towards a common goal. People who can’t do that are poor managers.

    The Talleys seem to want serfs rather than employees.

    This cartoon says to me “Yeah, we all have disputes with our workers, but you guys have gone way too far”.