Happy Labour day

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, October 24th, 2016 - 26 comments
Categories: Unions, workers' rights - Tags:

Labour day2

From the movement that brought you equal pay,  the weekend, minimum wages, child protection laws, injury prevention,  the right to organise …

26 comments on “Happy Labour day ”

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  1. save nz 1
    24 October 2016 at 9:25 am

    Happy Labour day, but note that the fight is not really over as we find that equal pay, the weekend, minimum wages, child protection laws, injury prevention, the right to organise are steadily being eroded in the 21st century.

    Not only that, the very idea of having a job, is under threat, with zero hour contracts (a job in title only) and self employed contracts becoming more prevalent.

    This year my prediction is, that the National party and ACT with United Future and The Maori party go to try to destroy the teachers union as much as they can so they can corporatise education further.

    Happy Labour day!

    • Draco T Bastard 1.1
      24 October 2016 at 11:53 am

      Not only that, the very idea of having a job, is under threat, with zero hour contracts (a job in title only) and self employed contracts becoming more prevalent.

      Do we need people to have jobs?
      Do we want people living solely to make others richer?

      Or do we want people to know what skills and chores need to be done to maintain society and all the rest of the time they get to do what they want with others in the community with the same interests?

  2. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 2
    24 October 2016 at 9:32 am

    Agreed, Save NZ – the resignation of Hekia may be just the first shot in a war on the teachers’ unions.

    Bad as she was, (and she was really pretty abysmal) if someone like Seymour becomes minister, then God help all NZ’s kids.

    And, on a similar theme, the Nats refusal to classify farming as a dangerous occupation, dancing to the tune of the farmers’ Union (!) has seen a rise in quad bike deaths. But hell, the ones killed are mostly just paid employees, so who cares?

    The symbolism of Labour Day is even more pertinent these days than ever before.

  3. Manuka AOR 3
    24 October 2016 at 10:02 am

    I think this belongs here:
    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/10/19/learning-from-helen/

    Memorial service will be held for Helen this Friday and will be live broadcast, iirc

  4. Ad 4
    24 October 2016 at 10:11 am

    My whole team have been hanging out for this three day weekend for months.
    We are just caning it.

    God we could do with another public holiday in August or September.

  5. joe90 5
    24 October 2016 at 10:33 am

    Te whakanui i te ra Reipa i te mahara Helen Kelly ki te aroha.

  6. greywarshark 6
    24 October 2016 at 3:13 pm

    Position in Australia. In a nutshell for all whether they are nuts or not.

    Underemployment phenomenon emerges with rise of part-time workforce
    From ABC News Analysis By business editor Ian Verrender
    Undated at heading. But updated 3 hours ago!
    This has given rise to the phenomenon of underemployment, as part-time workers on average only spend 17 hours a week at work, versus 39 hours for full-time workers….

    But the long-term ramifications of this shift are likely to play out in a manner that could hinder economic growth, put severe strain on our national finances and lead to a breakdown in social cohesion.

    Never as a nation have we been less prepared for these challenges; the rise in long-term unemployment and underemployment and the intergenerational wealth transfer as younger skilled workers and particularly new graduates find themselves overqualified, under-utilised and poorly paid.

    Instead, our business leaders are focused almost entirely on the elimination of penalty rates for the lowest paid in society — ironically so they can boost their own personal bonus payments — while the Government tears itself apart battling an imaginary foe in the shape of rampant union power.

    The increasing trend towards part-time work and the rising insecurity that creates among the workforce is reflected in two key measures.

    The first is that industrial disputes are at historically low levels; at about 100,000 lost days during 2015, well below the average 172,000 during the Australian Building and Construction Commission’s seven years of operation.
    And the second is that despite scaremongering of a wages explosion just four years ago, wages growth is now the slowest on record, rising just 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year after decelerating through most of 2015.

  7. North 7
    24 October 2016 at 3:35 pm

    Mighty picture ! Anyone know where copies are available (with or without message) ?

  9. WILD KATIPO 9
    24 October 2016 at 8:55 pm

    Couldn’t resist another clip.

    Brought to you by Billy Bragg courtesy of the Thatcher govts stand on English coal miners.

    And let us not forget the arch enemy’s of the unions in our modern era – neo liberal politicians and their rich backers . But the lessons learnt from history is that if you let them , the ruling monied elite will ALWAYS seek to destroy any collective bargaining and will ALWAYS seek to lobby and influence govt using their wealth and connections.

    Hence why , now more than ever , we need unions, and people to see the extreme importance of belonging to one.

    And if that can help in a groundswell to overturn the Employment Relations Act and the whole subtlety of putting workers on so – called ‘ contracts’ when in reality they are PAYE earners, then that would be a major milestone.

    We have a long , long way to go to restore lost territory in industrial relations post 1984 in this country.

    A long way to go.

  10. red-blooded 10
    24 October 2016 at 9:10 pm

    Hey, can we perhaps remember that it was the Labour Party which recognised the role of unions and decided to celebrate Labour Day with a public holiday, and (more recently) it was Labour MP David clark who got the bill passed to Mondayise it. What took us so long?

  11. millsy 11
    24 October 2016 at 9:46 pm

    “From the movement that brought you equal pay, the weekend, minimum wages, child protection laws, injury prevention, the right to organise …”.

    Well Wayne Mapp in that other thread pretty much made it clear that he wants to chop all that, and and wants us to fend for ourselves the the jungle of contract law.

    • Chris 11.1
      25 October 2016 at 12:30 am

      He’s a coward, too. Engages to a point then recoils and runs away when the questions get too hard. National party shill and fuckwit.

    • Stuart Munro 11.2
      25 October 2016 at 2:58 am

      Yeah but he wants law of the jungle without machetes coming after him – like Thatcher “Red in tooth and claw” fiscally only though, the poor mustn’t fight back.

      “I decided to leave this strange dreamer and move on.” H G Wells.

  12. Fisiani 12
    24 October 2016 at 11:10 pm

    I remember the labour governments in the 20th century who brought in some good changes. By 2020 not a single opposition mp will have served in cabinet.

    • joe90 12.1
      25 October 2016 at 12:04 am

      That’s you, isn’t it, [deleted]?.

      [if that’s a guess at identity, please don’t – weka]

    • Stuart Munro 12.2
      25 October 2016 at 2:51 am

      “By 2020 not a single opposition mp will have served in cabinet.”

      That’s your ideal eh – a single party state. 19th century stuff. I suppose we should be grateful the the fuckwit-in-chief has only stuck himself in Oz with a state-funded plane full of suck-ups instead of a battleship.

      Every time we try to credit a RWNJ with a skerrick of intelligence they come out with crap like this.

  13. AsleepWhileWalking 13
    25 October 2016 at 8:02 am

    Yesterday afternoon one of those fundraisers from the Red Cross knocked on my door. Offended that the holiday should be so disrespected he didn’t get anything from me.

    It occurs to me that if they had collectors rolled out across NZ that Monday may have brought in a record amount of cash for the Red Cross. (Or maybe it was just a contractor trying to make a target but still…wtf?)

  14. Michael who failed Civics 14
    25 October 2016 at 5:20 pm

    You forgot about Rogernomics. It looks as though that will be the only legacy from the NZ Labour Party that endures.