It's obvious why ratbag employers and other profit-takers are anti-union.
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as vacation, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause-conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas, but you still won’t have doggy breath.
Based on the returns received by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, total union membership as of 1 March 2020 was 380,659. This represents 16.42 percent of employees in the labour force. Total union membership increased by 2.0 percent compared to the previous year.
So 83% choose not to be in a union. Even more so when you take out the around 65% of those 16% who work in education or health etc, ie for the government.
And how does that 16.42% compare with the 1970's by the way?
So, it is clear that union membership in NZ has been very steady since 1996, which is a quarter of a century. Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?
I guess you don't understand my 'narrative then, because it fits it perfectly.
You see I didn't ask you about 1996, did I. I asked about the 1970's, when people were compelled to join unions.
What your very interesting graph shows, is that when compulsory union membership ended, workers voted with their feet, and membership dropped from a shade under 50% to, well bugger all.
And here's the point you have so beautifully made for me. In the 30+ years since union membership was made voluntary, unions have had plenty of time to prove their worth, and yet an even smaller % of workers (16.42% by your own data) choose to join a union in 2002 than the 20% in 1996. That's some kind of failure.
BTW I was indeed in the 1981 March on Queen Street. Same year I attended campaign rallies for Bill Rowling, including one at the Auckland Town Hall. Workers groups across the centuries have done amazing work for workers, often at great personal cost. The NZ edition by the 1980's had become a corrupt rabble.
Nope, you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Which is not accurate by a long shot and simply a reflection of your one-eyed view of unions, which you’ve so beautifully confirmed for us here, so thank you for that.
Over the last quarter of a century unions have proven their worth and even grown their membership over the last few years to just under 400,000 members. Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking.
I’d say that it doesn’t confirm either your narrative of “Unions outlived their place decades ago.”
"Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking."</em
When a movements membership drops from close to 50% to 20% and then 30 years later to 16%, that’s a failure by any measure.
EDIT – Apparently 60% of all union members are in the public sector. And 62% of public sector workers are in unions. No wonder you’re showing an increase in gross numbers in the past year or so.
All three inaccurate parts of your silly narrative were in my previous comment, i.e., your full narrative. I split it into two parts, clearly labelling as “your narrative” both times, because they were so disjointed and unhinged from reality anyway. If you say them backwards they almost start to make some sense.
Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. You sound desperate when you have to dig for stats from the 1970s and before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991 to find something that may possibly suit your twisted narrative.
"Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. "
When you're desperately clinging on to gross numbers when the % of the workforce has declined from around 50% to 16%, it's not me the truth is hurting.
The workers have spoken and they've said 'piss off'.
Unions had no special status in the process because the ECA [Employment Contracts Act 1991] promoted direct bargaining between employer and employee. If they could not agree, the dispute went to an Employment Tribunal and, if necessary, to an Employment Court. By 1999 the Tribunal had a backlog of over 3,000 cases, so it took up to a year to deliver a ruling.
Nearly 400,000 workers in NZ still decide each year that (their) union membership is worth having and apparently oblivious of incompetence and corruption as alleged by you without a shred of evidence to support this.
Ouch, that must hurt you. Now, who’s the desperate one here?
Of course you are, because you cannot stand (for) incompetence and corruption and you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, just as you did in the March march in 1981. I don’t expect you to give up on your long grudge against unions; that would take more than an epiphany of miraculous proportions.
I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force.
You've really got this bad, haven't you. You're so desperate you've gone from referencing the gross number of union members to now the number of unions! The number of unions is about as relevant as fish in a pond. what % of the workforce are in a union? 16%. How many choose not to be? 84%.
I don’t need to do anything next, as I’m just showing and showing again the holes in your short & shaky narrative that are as big as Steven Joyce’s imaginary budget holes and you haven’t provided one single decent counter-argument or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption. Couldn’t find it in Te Ara, could you? Hint: the key (time) point is the year 1991.
Anyway, “84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it? How is that possible if they’ve outlived their place decades ago, as you allege? Unless you’re wrong, of course.
Now let's see. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2018 , union membership 'changed little', so still around 21%. Yet by your own figures, by 2020 union membership was down to 16%. So between 2018 and 2020, union membership dropped from 'around 21%' to 16% of the workforce.
Now even you have to agree, that's not a good look.
Gypsy, I feel your antipathy towards unions, but it's not for me. Couldn't wait to join my first workplace union in the 80s – was a member for over thirty years and found them helpful (on one occasion very helpful), to the extent that I did a little voluntary committee work for them.
Unions aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course, what with all the corruption and incompetence, but you have to wonder if employee rights today would be better or worse but for union advocacy.
The most common types of domestic corruption cited by respondents included undisclosed conflicts of interest, supplier kickbacks and personal favours. More than a quarter (26%) of the reported incidents were from organisations with more than 5000 employees. And 68% of incidents involved only private/business individuals. No industry was immune with all sectors experiencing at least some reported incidents in the last five years.
Unions are organisations that represent groups of workers with employers. You have total freedom over whether or not you’ll join a union in your workplace. It is illegal for your employer to influence that decision.
If you choose to join a union, you will pay a membership fee, which can be paid directly or taken out of your wages.
More information about unions and which ones cover your occupation is available on the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) website.
My views don't reflect my personal experience with unions (which has been almost entirely positive). They reflect more on my views on the history of the union movement, here and in Australia and the UK. Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
Don't know about "something entirely different", but imho the union I belonged to was "genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment" for the duration of my membership.
Individual results may vary
Congratulations about condensing all the right wing BS about Unions into a few paragraphs.
Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. Can't have employees keeping over 40% of the money their work earns.
It was not corruption, except for the people who may have accepted money to stop Unions opposing the Employments contract Act.
Some Unions in Oz and the USA were run by criminal elements. Not in NZ.
A few Unions, out of hundreds, got drunk with power and demanded a lot more for their members. Which is actually their job! Incidentally still taking much less from the community than the Union of landlords do now. At least, unlike now, their pay stayed in the community, instead of going to offshore profits.
There was a lot of anti Union bullshit around at the time, which many people bought into, just like now, from a right wing biased media. Like the media ignoring the Seamans Union, while on strike, offering to take passengers and cars, unpaid across Cook Strait. Or the Marsden point Refinery contractor Managers intentionally causing a strike to cover up lack of material deliveries.
Those same shopkeepers who booed the Union marches in Wellington, went out of business in the 1990's when their Union member customers pay disappeared.
Private sector Unions were losing members for the same but apposite reason State sector Unions kept theirs. Private sector Unions power to do anything for workers was deliberately removed, in all but the largest workplaces. People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing. The RWNJ' s who claim people don't want to join Union's are being dis_ingenious.
Similar to removing buses from a route at the time it is most used, then claiming it is uneconomic and should be closed.
Not to mention the dairy workers, hospitality and others being given the nudge wink that if they even mention a Union, forget about being employed.
In fact in the State sector, and some large industries, where Unions still had some power and influence. The majority of members remained.
Other Unions membership dropped over a long period, not immediately. Giving the lie to your bullshit.
Union membership dropped immediately. The decline is shown in the data.
“When the government passed the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA) it ended nearly a century in which New Zealand’s labour law had strongly supported unions. Compulsory unionism and national wage agreements ended. Union membership dropped by about 50% in the first year after the act was passed. Many unions either collapsed or amalgamated.” https://teara.govt.nz/en/womens-labour-organisations/page-6
The number of registered unions peaked at 499 in 1937, after the first Labour government made union membership compulsory. The number then dropped to around 200. After 1991, when membership became voluntary under the Employment Contracts Act, it fell even further, to the lowest total in more than a century. When a new Labour government repealed the act, the number of unions rebounded to around 180.
Gypsy, Unions were damaged by The Contracts Act. They have strong Unions in Australia leading to better pay and conditions, as they did not join the spiral to the bottom we did. Some Unions were too dogmatic, but many Employers have been stung in Court for poor behaviour corrupt practice and failure to pay their employees properly. So neither group is covered in glory.
Thanks. Yes there are ratbag employers all right. The real damage done to unions by the Employment Contracts Act was removing compulsion. By the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them
I wonder why Amazon sweatshop workers have just celebrated their first Union and the company went to such efforts to bust their organisation. Must be because Jeff Bezos is such a great guy and paying workers a living wage is a sin against Capitalism.
No, it isn't. In NZ people are free to join unions or not, and that should have made unions do what any business would have had to do – become relevant again. I look at this logically and say if a declining % of workers (now only 16%) choose to join a union, (and the vast majority of those are not private sector workers), then they're really struggling.
The real damage; Was the removal of the larger industries and employers that had Unionised workforces. The 80’s and 90’s destruction. Shop assistants and others were never effectively Unionised. The employment contracts Act removal of most Unions ability to do much for their members, by the removal of rights, such as the rights to strike. Concerted efforts by employers to threaten and divide Union membership. And some decided they were getting the wages and conditions the Union members fought for, without paying Union dues. So they decided to bludge. No doubt to the later regret of many, as they saw their pay and conditions eroded.
I was there. I saw all this happening.
As I said. The same thing as changing a bus route so they can't run at times and to the stops people use. Then saying it "is a waste of time due to lack of patronage”.
In contrast to private sector Unions, in the State sector, where Unions in larger workplaces still retained power, the majority stayed in Unions.
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?
The decrease in wages and employees share of earnings since then, and indeed the current problems with safety, show that Unions are needed more than ever. ETU's success in Unionising and fighting against zero hour contracts and low wages, for fast food workers, is just one example.
If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?
"If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?"
Here's where you're confused. The rights and conditions secured by unions are decades old. I'll give up any benefits unions have achieved in, say, the past 30 years, if you give up any benefit the evil market economy you so dislike has delieverd to you.
Over 30 years since Unions had any power. Funny that.
You have just confirmed what I'm saying.
The need for Unions is greater than ever.
That people were taken in by the pervasive right wing media is not surprising. It is still fooling people like you, even long after the ill effects are obvious.
I bet you many of those, including Tania Harris, regretted that moment, of "Turkeys voting for Christmas" when the effects of the employment contracts act impoverished communities and put many if them out of work.
As for a recent success of Unions. I already mentioned ETU success with zero hours and fast food workers.
"If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join".
It should be obvious. If you thought about it instead of endlessly repeating the same BS.
The power of Unions to do much for workers in the isolated and fragmented workplaces, that is most of the private sector, was deliberately removed. Striking to support workers in other workplaces, in the same Union, is nowadays, illegal. As is striking at all, except in very limited circumstances.
Union successes have been restricted to large national employers, Government departments or nationwide franchises. Funnily enough the same workplaces that still have the majority of employees Unionised. And where Unions such as ETU are gaining new members.
Employers actively restricting the employment of anyone who may join a Union. Part of the enthusiusism for compliant and ignorant immigrant labour. Many youngsters are terrified of challenging their employers in any way. Because they know that they will be dismissed and blacklisted for even mentioning a Union.
Access to Union won conditions without paying dues.
The rise of pretend contractor arrangements over a large number of workers, like the ones in the film industry, forestry, couriers and telecoms. Contractors are legally barred from "price fixing type behaviours". Conveniently barred from clubbing together to set conditions.
Propaganda, like yours, mis informing about what Unions do.
As is obvious, although the need for effective Unions is greater than ever, the laws in place are designed to make them as ineffective as possible, and discourage membership.
Part of a market economy is the right to withdraw your labour, or products, if the price you are getting is too low. The right to withdraw your products still exists. The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!
Ok, essentially what you're arguing is that the ECA disempowered unions. I agree, as far as the introduction of freedom of association, but are you seriously arguing that right should be taken from employees?
Your arguments around the disempowerment of unions in other ways are without citation, and in at least one case highly questionable. You claim "The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!" Not according to Employment NZ:
"Strikes and lockouts are legitimate actions used by parties to advance their bargaining aims."
"To be a strike the action must be part of a combination, agreement, common understanding, or joint action made or done by the employees. Employees can do this action to try to make their employer give in to their demands. Employers can’t discriminate against employees for taking part in a lawful strike."
The article then goes on to describe "When employees can legally strike or be locked out". What the ECA (and it's subsequent amendments) seems to have done is to codify the requirements for striking, which is a good thing, surely. And something that remains in place through the past 30+ years, approximately half of which have been under Labour Governments.
Thanks for confirming what I said. The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances. You gave the references yourself.
So limited, that it is impossible to use it to support workers in the same industry but other workplaces. Effectively the right to strike for better conditions, only exists in large workplaces. And the right for employees to Unionise, strike and support each other over a whole industry, preventing employers racing for the bottom is gone.
Destroying the ability of all but large single employer Unions to act for their members. Which was the intention of the ECA all along.
Labour Governments are not guiltless. The rot continued with the destructive 1984 Government that destroyed entire industries. After Muldoon destroyed boat and caravan building, amoungst others, so he could afford social welfare for sheep.
Still carrying on with your bolloocks I see. How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. Driven by bull, just like the one by the Weta workshops, fools.
I've seen the effects of very limited rights to strike, from both sides of the table I may add.
And seen employers frequently, unilatarily and in bad faith, change conditions many times, knowing full well that employees can do buggerrall about it until the contract expires.
And don't bother telling me employees can sue for breach of contract.. Few employees or Unions have bottomless pockets.
It would be a very brave Union leader today, who would suggest striking outside the very limited occasions a strike is legal.
Even for safety reasons. Having to pay to justify the strike in court while being personally sued for an “illegal strike” has totally disempowered Unions on safety. Which is my point.
The abuse of power by employers since the ECA, makes the Cooks and Stewards look like pussies.
The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law.
"How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. "
The march was driven by sheer frustration and anger at the exploitative nature of union activity. People had come to see unions as petty and vindictive, and will skilled at abusing the power they held only because people were compelled to join them.
"The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law."
Freedom of association is a human right, that shouldn't be removed by law. Since that freedom was restored, the vast majority of workers have chosen to not join a union. Exercising that right has done more to reduce the power of striking than any reasonable limits imposed by the government.
Maritime NZ is the prosecuting agency in this case but yes it might help do what the 2015 lawchange was intended to – show inescapable accountability from the top.
In Herne Bay, Seddon Fields, there's a group of toy dog owners who turn up early Saturdays and let their dogs shit and piss all over the sports fields. They've done it for so long they're all known to each other.
Within minutes of them leaving the dogs toilet aka sports fields everyone else begins to turn up as their kids play various contact sports there.
As there are clearly 'No Dogs on the Sports Fields' signs on the actual sports fields, one must conclude these are the people for whom the rules do not apply. If some bottom feeders kids get their face smeared in the residue of Pookies shit – such is life.
I posit these folk are also the people who loudly and proudly vote for law and order, and that arresting them would go a long way toward restoring everybody's faith in our fair system.
I'm involved with coaching at that football club (Western Springs) and I agree with you it sounds disgusting. The problem will be worse at the moment too because our artificial 'turf' fields are being replaced, and so all the games on being played on the grass fields.
Can you jut clarify for me, are you referring to Seddon Fields (which is in Western Springs) or our other ground Cox Bay (in Westmere)? I'll talk to the powers that be and see if something can be done.
All good. I’ll talk to the club about it, but it’s also a Council issue. At my favourite dog walking locale (Taipari Strand) if you don’t pick up after your dog you get ‘reminded’ by one of the regulars!
They'll pick up after themselves, but the area they're using is clearly earmarked for sports. And if doggie wees or has wee runs… aww pookies!
Generalising here but: Actual walkers of dogs have dogs that have normally 'worked it out' before their owners hit the park. The ones turning up in cars to sling balls across the sports grounds with a plastic arm extension have the dogs that race out to relieve themselves, through no fault of the dog.
Again, the ‘No dogs on sports fields’ signage is clear.
There are a lot of those about. We walk around Western Springs Park about 4 times a week and we regularly see people with dogs that are not on a leash. If you point out that it is not an off leash area you get abused or told that "I walk this dog here every day and we have no problems" as their little darling chases a nesting Pukeko into the lake.
Whangarei. " Owners are legally responsible for cleaning up after their dogs on any property that’s not their own. This means carrying a plastic bag whenever you’re in public with your dog. Dog waste bags are available at Council offices or the Pound in Kioreroa Road. Failure to clean up after your dog could result in a $300 fine".
Under the Dog Management Bylaw 2019, you must immediately remove your dog's faeces from a public place and dispose of it adequately.
If you do not pick up after your dog, you may get a $300 fine.
Penalty included under Problems with dogs and not mentioned under Dog owners' obligations. Feel it'd be useful to have there as well. Very few people consider their dog a problem.
"The public’s attitude to death, taxes and Climate Change is remarkably consistent. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die, pay more, or give up their SUV.
The trick of successful democratic government in times of global warming, pestilence, war – and rampant inflation – is to convey the impression of doing something while actually doing very little at all. The job of the politician, when you boil it right down, is to keep the lights on and the ATMs working. If not forever, then until well past the next election."
Politicians don’t make promises and they don’t promise anything.
At best, they’re Party spokespeople or figureheads speaking on behalf (or out of tune) of the Party from the Party Manifest or Policy, but never ever in a personal capacity from their own list. They are not representatives of the people or voters but carefully controlled speaking tubes for their Parties. Which is why so many 'promises' are empty & hollow and get so easily broken (and forgotten, except as troll fodder and as gotcha bait).
I had no desire to read BR, but I did. I couldn’t see any mention of political parties
There sure is high demand today for mindreading by online osmosis and talking in riddles – clarity is not just a state of mind but also a skill and virtue.
In Oz rampant poverty, or fear of other voters (sometimes causation is difficult to identify) is causing millions to vote early, or by mail, rather than admit they cannot afford a sausage.
Once upon a time, there were brothers called Arvirigas (of the green spear) and Caratacus (of the orange spear).
Today they are called Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.
In the Easter Agreement back in 1998 it was decided that the number 1 and number 2 parties would determine a government in Ulster – if not there would be direct rule from London. Normally DUP have been No 1 and someone more moderate than Sinn Fein has been No 2. Now Sinn Fein is No 1 and DUP is No 2.
Sinn Fein are Irish nationalists and want things like a referendum – which is why their deputy has gone to Edinburgh to talk to the SN leader in Scotland.
And they highlighted the "close bonds" between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The DUP would rather have direct rule from London than have such a referendum (and not wanting to legitimise Sinn Fein with a role in Ulster administration is just a bonus.
However both the EU and the USA have a few concerns about what is going on.
Irish PM says DUP cannot be allowed to block NI Assembly
Some American Bishops have made their intentions clear – those who publicly support abortion rights will be denied communion.
The Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be denied the sacrament of Holy Communion because of her vocal support for abortion rights.
Cordileone last year called for Communion to be withheld from public figures who support abortion rights but did not mention Pelosi by name at the time.
“After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone said Friday in a letter to members of his archdiocese.
Catholic archbishops have vast power within their diocese, and a reversal of Cordileone’s decision would require the intervention of the Vatican, which is unlikely.The order to deny Communion to Pelosi applies only to Catholic churches within the San Francisco archdiocese under Cordileone’s purview, including the speaker’s home church.
Last September, Pope Francis said the decision about granting Communion to politicians who support abortion rights should be made from a pastoral point of view, not a political one. He told reporters: “I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone,” while adding that he has never knowingly encountered during Communion a politician who backs abortion rights.
The SCOTUS leak has led states to reveal their post Roe v Wade plans.
Oklahoma
From fertilisation – thus allows the so called post sex MAP/contraception that prevents fertilisation.
Oklahoma lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that would ban abortions from the moment of “fertilization,” effectively prohibitingalmost all abortions in the state.
Under the bill, those who could be sued include anyone who “performs or induces” an abortion; anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including paying for one; and anyone who even “intends to engage” in either of the two actions above.
The pregnant woman is not the legal target of the law. Those who help facilitate one for her, as well as those performing the action are liable.
The bill states a lawsuit cannot be brought against a woman who had or seeks to have an abortion.
The bill defines “fertilization” as the moment a sperm meets the egg. It explicitly allows for the use of the Plan B pill, a widely used form of emergency contraception, but would prohibit medical abortions using pills.
Medical intervention on health grounds is allowed
The bill exempts from its definition of abortion any procedure to “save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child,” to “remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion” or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fetus grows outside the uterus.
The bill makes exceptions for abortion if it is “necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency”
It allows abortion in the case of pregnancy resulting from reported sexual crime
or if the pregnancy is the result of rape, sexual assault or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.
It does not determine, or otherwise, a position on in vitro
“Looking at the language, it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t affect in vitro fertilization because it talks about as soon as the ovum and the sperm meet, and the egg is fertilized, that means that’s a person,” Rep. Emily Virgin (D) said, according to KOKH News. “That’s what happens with in vitro fertilization, you create embryos.”
The bill's sponsor said IVF was not included in the bill, as it “would be tough” to prove that an abortion had occurred in that situation.
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With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
Muriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
Don Brash writes – There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...
David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...
Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery.What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...
Since its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...
After 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...
Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...
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Scoobydoo or his elbow?
https://twitter.com/albomp/status/1279278436675018753?lang=en
Well elbowed.
Excellent signal by WorkSafe to prosecute exCEO of Auckland Port Tony Gibson for the deaths under his watch.
Will send a shiver through any CEO with a high risk workplace.
Virtue signalling by Work Safe, which will make the current top down cover your arse with paper after the fact, approach to safety, worse.
. Ports of Auckland was much more than one manager
Like Work Safe, prosecuting every but themselves, who are equally guilty, over White Island.
At least when we actually had Trade Unions, employees felt they could act on safety concerns
Yeah well that really helped the Pike River miners. Not.
"But despite the overwhelming evidence that there was something seriously and dangerously wrong at the Pike Rive mine, the officials of the EPMU did nothing.
The mine opened in November 2008 and on not one occasion did the EPMU initiate industrial action or even criticise PRC'S safety standards, even after a group of workers walked off the job to protest the lack of basic emergency equipment. The walk out by miners was revealed by miner Brent Forrester. He told TVNZ’s Sunday on December 5 2010 that he once helped organise a walkout of about 10 miners to protest the lack of basic emergency equipment, including stretchers and an emergency transport vehicle. They received no support from the EPMU. Andrew Little even insisted that PRC "had a good health and safety committee that’s been very active."
You missed the bit where Unions have buggerrall power to do anything, these days.
What, not even speak out their members concerns?
"EPMU National secretary Andrew Little (now a Labour MP) told the New Zealand Herald on November 22 2010 that there was "nothing unusual about Pike River or this mine that we’ve been particularly concerned about". He then appeared on TVNZ's Close Up to again defend PRC management."
It's obvious why ratbag employers and other profit-takers are anti-union.
Unions outlived their place decades ago. They became corrupt and incompetent. It's why workers left them in droves.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas, but you still won’t have doggy breath.
https://www.companiesoffice.govt.nz/all-registers/registered-unions/annual-return-membership-reports/
So 83% choose not to be in a union. Even more so when you take out the around 65% of those 16% who work in education or health etc, ie for the government.
And how does that 16.42% compare with the 1970's by the way?
"But in March 1981 about 50,000 people joined an anti-union march down Auckland’s Queen St. The ‘Kiwis Care’ march was organised by Tania Harris, a 22-year-old sales representative. Ticker tape flew from shop windows and a stereo shop blasted the national anthem. Some people openly wept. Harris had tapped into public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country. Anger had been on display the day before, when up to 4,000 striking unionists marched the same route. Fist-waving shoppers and businessmen had booed, hissed and abused the strikers, calling them ‘traitors to New Zealand’ and demanding they ‘get back to work’."
I’m sure you were in that March march 1981 to show your anti-solidarity with unions.
Here are some answers for you, since you show such a keen interest in NZ unions:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/clew/news/union-membership-in-new-zealand-shows-further-growth
Since you obviously have been searching and reading Te Ara, here’s the answer to your other very important and relevant question: https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/22264/percentage-of-union-members
How on Earth did you miss that????
So, it is clear that union membership in NZ has been very steady since 1996, which is a quarter of a century. Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?
"Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?"
I guess you don't understand my 'narrative then, because it fits it perfectly.
You see I didn't ask you about 1996, did I. I asked about the 1970's, when people were compelled to join unions.
What your very interesting graph shows, is that when compulsory union membership ended, workers voted with their feet, and membership dropped from a shade under 50% to, well bugger all.
And here's the point you have so beautifully made for me. In the 30+ years since union membership was made voluntary, unions have had plenty of time to prove their worth, and yet an even smaller % of workers (16.42% by your own data) choose to join a union in 2002 than the 20% in 1996. That's some kind of failure.
BTW I was indeed in the 1981 March on Queen Street. Same year I attended campaign rallies for Bill Rowling, including one at the Auckland Town Hall. Workers groups across the centuries have done amazing work for workers, often at great personal cost. The NZ edition by the 1980's had become a corrupt rabble.
Nope, you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Which is not accurate by a long shot and simply a reflection of your one-eyed view of unions, which you’ve so beautifully confirmed for us here, so thank you for that.
Over the last quarter of a century unions have proven their worth and even grown their membership over the last few years to just under 400,000 members. Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking.
I’d say that it doesn’t confirm either your narrative of “Unions outlived their place decades ago.”
BTW, it was 2020, not 2002.
" you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Nope. My full narrative was
Unions outlived their place decades ago. They became corrupt and incompetent. It's why workers left them in droves."
"Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking."</em
When a movements membership drops from close to 50% to 20% and then 30 years later to 16%, that’s a failure by any measure.
EDIT – Apparently 60% of all union members are in the public sector. And 62% of public sector workers are in unions. No wonder you’re showing an increase in gross numbers in the past year or so.
All three inaccurate parts of your silly narrative were in my previous comment, i.e., your full narrative. I split it into two parts, clearly labelling as “your narrative” both times, because they were so disjointed and unhinged from reality anyway. If you say them backwards they almost start to make some sense.
Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. You sound desperate when you have to dig for stats from the 1970s and before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991 to find something that may possibly suit your twisted narrative.
"Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. "
When you're desperately clinging on to gross numbers when the % of the workforce has declined from around 50% to 16%, it's not me the truth is hurting.
The workers have spoken and they've said 'piss off'.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/strikes-and-labour-disputes/page-10
Nearly 400,000 workers in NZ still decide each year that (their) union membership is worth having and apparently oblivious of incompetence and corruption as alleged by you without a shred of evidence to support this.
Ouch, that must hurt you. Now, who’s the desperate one here?
"Now, who’s the desperate one here?"
Not me. I'm on the side of the 84% who say no.
Of course you are, because you cannot stand (for) incompetence and corruption and you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, just as you did in the March march in 1981. I don’t expect you to give up on your long grudge against unions; that would take more than an epiphany of miraculous proportions.
I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force.
"you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, "
Not at all. It's their choice entirely. The 16%.
"I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force."
I work for a living, as a paid employee.
I hope they pay you well enough and don’t take advantage of your good nature.
"I have a new favourite year for you: 1937."
You've really got this bad, haven't you. You're so desperate you've gone from referencing the gross number of union members to now the number of unions! The number of unions is about as relevant as fish in a pond. what % of the workforce are in a union? 16%. How many choose not to be? 84%.
Now what will you try next?
I don’t need to do anything next, as I’m just showing and showing again the holes in your short & shaky narrative that are as big as Steven Joyce’s imaginary budget holes and you haven’t provided one single decent counter-argument or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption. Couldn’t find it in Te Ara, could you? Hint: the key (time) point is the year 1991.
Anyway, “84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it? How is that possible if they’ve outlived their place decades ago, as you allege? Unless you’re wrong, of course.
Now look what I've just found, in an article trumpeting "Union Membership in New Zealand shows further growth":
"Union membership density in New Zealand has changed little since December 2008 when 21 percent of those in jobs were union members. "
Now that was for the year ended 31 December 2018.
Now let's see. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2018 , union membership 'changed little', so still around 21%. Yet by your own figures, by 2020 union membership was down to 16%. So between 2018 and 2020, union membership dropped from 'around 21%' to 16% of the workforce.
Now even you have to agree, that's not a good look.
"84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it?"
Your argument is like comparing NZ covid deaths with Monserrat and arguing they managed covid better than we did.
"or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption."
Well there's a whole episode here.
Gypsy, I feel your antipathy towards unions, but it's not for me. Couldn't wait to join my first workplace union in the 80s – was a member for over thirty years and found them helpful (on one occasion very helpful), to the extent that I did a little voluntary committee work for them.
Unions aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course, what with all the corruption and incompetence, but you have to wonder if employee rights today would be better or worse but for union advocacy.
My views don't reflect my personal experience with unions (which has been almost entirely positive). They reflect more on my views on the history of the union movement, here and in Australia and the UK. Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
There were Unions…and then there were Unions, some animals were more equal than others….an observation as an ex shop steward.
Don't know about "something entirely different", but imho the union I belonged to was "genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment" for the duration of my membership.
Individual results may vary
Excellent sarcasm. Gypsy.
Hey gypo, do you think the tax payers union are corrupt and incompetent.?
You'd need to ask me first whether I thought they were a 'union' in the context of this discussion.
My answer would be no. I suspect they were taking the michael when they named themselves.
Bollocks.
Congratulations about condensing all the right wing BS about Unions into a few paragraphs.
Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. Can't have employees keeping over 40% of the money their work earns.
It was not corruption, except for the people who may have accepted money to stop Unions opposing the Employments contract Act.
Some Unions in Oz and the USA were run by criminal elements. Not in NZ.
A few Unions, out of hundreds, got drunk with power and demanded a lot more for their members. Which is actually their job! Incidentally still taking much less from the community than the Union of landlords do now. At least, unlike now, their pay stayed in the community, instead of going to offshore profits.
There was a lot of anti Union bullshit around at the time, which many people bought into, just like now, from a right wing biased media. Like the media ignoring the Seamans Union, while on strike, offering to take passengers and cars, unpaid across Cook Strait. Or the Marsden point Refinery contractor Managers intentionally causing a strike to cover up lack of material deliveries.
Those same shopkeepers who booed the Union marches in Wellington, went out of business in the 1990's when their Union member customers pay disappeared.
Private sector Unions were losing members for the same but apposite reason State sector Unions kept theirs. Private sector Unions power to do anything for workers was deliberately removed, in all but the largest workplaces. People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing. The RWNJ' s who claim people don't want to join Union's are being dis_ingenious.
Similar to removing buses from a route at the time it is most used, then claiming it is uneconomic and should be closed.
Not to mention the dairy workers, hospitality and others being given the nudge wink that if they even mention a Union, forget about being employed.
"Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. "
Now if that was even remotely true, when it actually became a CHOICE to join, why did the majority leave?
"People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing."
No, people decided almost immediately they were going to leave, well before any of your conspiracy theory could have taken effect.
Where do you get your talking points from?
Reality, Mate!
In fact in the State sector, and some large industries, where Unions still had some power and influence. The majority of members remained.
Other Unions membership dropped over a long period, not immediately. Giving the lie to your bullshit.
Union membership dropped immediately. The decline is shown in the data.
“When the government passed the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA) it ended nearly a century in which New Zealand’s labour law had strongly supported unions. Compulsory unionism and national wage agreements ended. Union membership dropped by about 50% in the first year after the act was passed. Many unions either collapsed or amalgamated.”
https://teara.govt.nz/en/womens-labour-organisations/page-6
I have a new favourite year for you: 1937.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/22263/registered-unions-1860-2007
Oh no, the incompetent and corrupt ones came back and yet membership stayed … steady. Bugger! Your narrative is blown to pieces, again.
Gypsy, Unions were damaged by The Contracts Act. They have strong Unions in Australia leading to better pay and conditions, as they did not join the spiral to the bottom we did. Some Unions were too dogmatic, but many Employers have been stung in Court for poor behaviour corrupt practice and failure to pay their employees properly. So neither group is covered in glory.
Just for balance.
Thanks. Yes there are ratbag employers all right. The real damage done to unions by the Employment Contracts Act was removing compulsion. By the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them
I wonder why Amazon sweatshop workers have just celebrated their first Union and the company went to such efforts to bust their organisation. Must be because Jeff Bezos is such a great guy and paying workers a living wage is a sin against Capitalism.
This isn't the 1970s any more gypsy.
No, it isn't. In NZ people are free to join unions or not, and that should have made unions do what any business would have had to do – become relevant again. I look at this logically and say if a declining % of workers (now only 16%) choose to join a union, (and the vast majority of those are not private sector workers), then they're really struggling.
The real damage; Was the removal of the larger industries and employers that had Unionised workforces. The 80’s and 90’s destruction. Shop assistants and others were never effectively Unionised. The employment contracts Act removal of most Unions ability to do much for their members, by the removal of rights, such as the rights to strike. Concerted efforts by employers to threaten and divide Union membership. And some decided they were getting the wages and conditions the Union members fought for, without paying Union dues. So they decided to bludge. No doubt to the later regret of many, as they saw their pay and conditions eroded.
I was there. I saw all this happening.
As I said. The same thing as changing a bus route so they can't run at times and to the stops people use. Then saying it "is a waste of time due to lack of patronage”.
In contrast to private sector Unions, in the State sector, where Unions in larger workplaces still retained power, the majority stayed in Unions.
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?
The decrease in wages and employees share of earnings since then, and indeed the current problems with safety, show that Unions are needed more than ever. ETU's success in Unionising and fighting against zero hour contracts and low wages, for fast food workers, is just one example.
If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?""
But in March 1981 about 50,000 people joined an anti-union march down Auckland’s Queen St. The ‘Kiwis Care’ march was organised by Tania Harris, a 22-year-old sales representative. Ticker tape flew from shop windows and a stereo shop blasted the national anthem. Some people openly wept.
Harris had tapped into public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country. "
"If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?"
Here's where you're confused. The rights and conditions secured by unions are decades old. I'll give up any benefits unions have achieved in, say, the past 30 years, if you give up any benefit the evil market economy you so dislike has delieverd to you.
Over 30 years since Unions had any power. Funny that.
You have just confirmed what I'm saying.
The need for Unions is greater than ever.
That people were taken in by the pervasive right wing media is not surprising. It is still fooling people like you, even long after the ill effects are obvious.
I bet you many of those, including Tania Harris, regretted that moment, of "Turkeys voting for Christmas" when the effects of the employment contracts act impoverished communities and put many if them out of work.
As for a recent success of Unions. I already mentioned ETU success with zero hours and fast food workers.
If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join.
[Please check and correct your user name in the next comment, thanks]
Mod note
The State sector Unions are just getting long overdue pay rises in health.
Due to Unions.
Who said anything about disliking the Market economy?
RWNJ’s love their strawman arguments.
"If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join".
It should be obvious. If you thought about it instead of endlessly repeating the same BS.
Union successes have been restricted to large national employers, Government departments or nationwide franchises. Funnily enough the same workplaces that still have the majority of employees Unionised. And where Unions such as ETU are gaining new members.
As is obvious, although the need for effective Unions is greater than ever, the laws in place are designed to make them as ineffective as possible, and discourage membership.
Part of a market economy is the right to withdraw your labour, or products, if the price you are getting is too low. The right to withdraw your products still exists. The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!
"It shou"ld be obvious."
Ok, essentially what you're arguing is that the ECA disempowered unions. I agree, as far as the introduction of freedom of association, but are you seriously arguing that right should be taken from employees?
Your arguments around the disempowerment of unions in other ways are without citation, and in at least one case highly questionable. You claim "The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!" Not according to Employment NZ:
"Strikes and lockouts are legitimate actions used by parties to advance their bargaining aims."
"To be a strike the action must be part of a combination, agreement, common understanding, or joint action made or done by the employees. Employees can do this action to try to make their employer give in to their demands. Employers can’t discriminate against employees for taking part in a lawful strike."
The article then goes on to describe "When employees can legally strike or be locked out". What the ECA (and it's subsequent amendments) seems to have done is to codify the requirements for striking, which is a good thing, surely. And something that remains in place through the past 30+ years, approximately half of which have been under Labour Governments.
Thanks for confirming what I said. The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances. You gave the references yourself.
So limited, that it is impossible to use it to support workers in the same industry but other workplaces. Effectively the right to strike for better conditions, only exists in large workplaces. And the right for employees to Unionise, strike and support each other over a whole industry, preventing employers racing for the bottom is gone.
Destroying the ability of all but large single employer Unions to act for their members. Which was the intention of the ECA all along.
Labour Governments are not guiltless. The rot continued with the destructive 1984 Government that destroyed entire industries. After Muldoon destroyed boat and caravan building, amoungst others, so he could afford social welfare for sheep.
"The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances."
I didn't confirm what you said. You didn't say 'limited circumstances'. You said 'very limited circumstances'. The circumstances under which workers can strike are not 'very limited', they are limited, and for very good reason. The reason 50,000 people marched down Queen Street in 1981 was becasue of "public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country."
What good the unions had achieved in decades past was well and truly unravelled during those years.
Still carrying on with your bolloocks I see. How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. Driven by bull, just like the one by the Weta workshops, fools.
I've seen the effects of very limited rights to strike, from both sides of the table I may add.
And seen employers frequently, unilatarily and in bad faith, change conditions many times, knowing full well that employees can do buggerrall about it until the contract expires.
And don't bother telling me employees can sue for breach of contract.. Few employees or Unions have bottomless pockets.
It would be a very brave Union leader today, who would suggest striking outside the very limited occasions a strike is legal.
Even for safety reasons. Having to pay to justify the strike in court while being personally sued for an “illegal strike” has totally disempowered Unions on safety. Which is my point.
The abuse of power by employers since the ECA, makes the Cooks and Stewards look like pussies.
The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law.
"How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. "
The march was driven by sheer frustration and anger at the exploitative nature of union activity. People had come to see unions as petty and vindictive, and will skilled at abusing the power they held only because people were compelled to join them.
"The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law."
Freedom of association is a human right, that shouldn't be removed by law. Since that freedom was restored, the vast majority of workers have chosen to not join a union. Exercising that right has done more to reduce the power of striking than any reasonable limits imposed by the government.
Wondered when the other RW bullshit artist would pop up.
Maritime NZ is the prosecuting agency in this case but yes it might help do what the 2015 lawchange was intended to – show inescapable accountability from the top.
There are these miraculous things called links, Ad. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300593989/former-auckland-port-boss-denies-charges-in-relation-to-death-of-worker-crushed-by-container
Hang in there Albanese. Surely it's time.
Bake for Ukraine
If you are in South Auckland today make sure to visit the fundraising cake sale for Ukraine
Onehunga Market 10.am to 2.pm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?
In Herne Bay, Seddon Fields, there's a group of toy dog owners who turn up early Saturdays and let their dogs shit and piss all over the sports fields. They've done it for so long they're all known to each other.
Within minutes of them leaving the dogs toilet aka sports fields everyone else begins to turn up as their kids play various contact sports there.
As there are clearly 'No Dogs on the Sports Fields' signs on the actual sports fields, one must conclude these are the people for whom the rules do not apply. If some bottom feeders kids get their face smeared in the residue of Pookies shit – such is life.
I posit these folk are also the people who loudly and proudly vote for law and order, and that arresting them would go a long way toward restoring everybody's faith in our fair system.
I'm involved with coaching at that football club (Western Springs) and I agree with you it sounds disgusting. The problem will be worse at the moment too because our artificial 'turf' fields are being replaced, and so all the games on being played on the grass fields.
Can you jut clarify for me, are you referring to Seddon Fields (which is in Western Springs) or our other ground Cox Bay (in Westmere)? I'll talk to the powers that be and see if something can be done.
Good call, it is in fact Coxs Bay. I should know the difference.
All good. I’ll talk to the club about it, but it’s also a Council issue. At my favourite dog walking locale (Taipari Strand) if you don’t pick up after your dog you get ‘reminded’ by one of the regulars!
They'll pick up after themselves, but the area they're using is clearly earmarked for sports. And if doggie wees or has wee runs… aww pookies!
Generalising here but: Actual walkers of dogs have dogs that have normally 'worked it out' before their owners hit the park. The ones turning up in cars to sling balls across the sports grounds with a plastic arm extension have the dogs that race out to relieve themselves, through no fault of the dog.
Again, the ‘No dogs on sports fields’ signage is clear.
It is, very clear. And there's ample walking space for dogs off the fields.
There are a lot of those about. We walk around Western Springs Park about 4 times a week and we regularly see people with dogs that are not on a leash. If you point out that it is not an off leash area you get abused or told that "I walk this dog here every day and we have no problems" as their little darling chases a nesting Pukeko into the lake.
It's a basic courtesy and public hygiene to pick up after your dog defecates anywhere outside your home.
Be useful to know if that is part of any council's responsible dog owner licence guidelines.
Whangarei. " Owners are legally responsible for cleaning up after their dogs on any property that’s not their own. This means carrying a plastic bag whenever you’re in public with your dog. Dog waste bags are available at Council offices or the Pound in Kioreroa Road. Failure to clean up after your dog could result in a $300 fine".
Thanks, that's pretty straightforward.
I can find a reference to it on Auckland Council's by searching your quote:
Penalty included under Problems with dogs and not mentioned under Dog owners' obligations. Feel it'd be useful to have there as well. Very few people consider their dog a problem.
May be a new daily game for the geo politicos here:
https://oec.world/en/tradle/
The role of Party politics has been questioned (https://thestandard.org.nz/the-time-that-roger-douglas-was-right/)
The answer appears in the sidebar
"The public’s attitude to death, taxes and Climate Change is remarkably consistent. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die, pay more, or give up their SUV.
The trick of successful democratic government in times of global warming, pestilence, war – and rampant inflation – is to convey the impression of doing something while actually doing very little at all. The job of the politician, when you boil it right down, is to keep the lights on and the ATMs working. If not forever, then until well past the next election."
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/blah-blah-blah-is-that-all-there-is.html
Thank you, but not quite seeing it.
Politicians don’t make promises and they don’t promise anything.
At best, they’re Party spokespeople or figureheads speaking on behalf (or out of tune) of the Party from the Party Manifest or Policy, but never ever in a personal capacity from their own list. They are not representatives of the people or voters but carefully controlled speaking tubes for their Parties. Which is why so many 'promises' are empty & hollow and get so easily broken (and forgotten, except as troll fodder and as gotcha bait).
We never see that which we dont desire to see.
Political parties are means to an end….those that succeed in such an environment are those who succeed in such an environment.
I had no desire to read BR, but I did. I couldn’t see any mention of political parties
There sure is high demand today for mindreading by online osmosis and talking in riddles – clarity is not just a state of mind but also a skill and virtue.
it must be contagious…you appear to be infected.
Yup, my test result was off the scale and I’ve given up on elimination and instead try contain the risk of transmission to unwitting hapless souls.
too late…its an epidemic
I’m learning to live with it, but I don’t want to …
lifes like that
Sometimes, I don’t like life as we know it.
snap
Whilst globally we have a rerun of the 70's,it does not mean we should have 1984 to look forward to.
https://twitter.com/loffredojeremy/status/1527521228688445442
It's a brave new world.
I found it obvious.
Comprehension is a volatile..beast.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
In Oz rampant poverty, or fear of other voters (sometimes causation is difficult to identify) is causing millions to vote early, or by mail, rather than admit they cannot afford a sausage.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/democracy-sausage-under-threat-as-millions-vote-early-20220516-p5almq.html
'everything in moderation…even..moderation'!
Please inform the almighty…this IS open ..mike!
Once upon a time, there were brothers called Arvirigas (of the green spear) and Caratacus (of the orange spear).
Today they are called Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.
In the Easter Agreement back in 1998 it was decided that the number 1 and number 2 parties would determine a government in Ulster – if not there would be direct rule from London. Normally DUP have been No 1 and someone more moderate than Sinn Fein has been No 2. Now Sinn Fein is No 1 and DUP is No 2.
Sinn Fein are Irish nationalists and want things like a referendum – which is why their deputy has gone to Edinburgh to talk to the SN leader in Scotland.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-61528442
The DUP would rather have direct rule from London than have such a referendum (and not wanting to legitimise Sinn Fein with a role in Ulster administration is just a bonus.
However both the EU and the USA have a few concerns about what is going on.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61515205
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-61521540
Some American Bishops have made their intentions clear – those who publicly support abortion rights will be denied communion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/pelosi-abortion-archbishop-communion/
The SCOTUS leak has led states to reveal their post Roe v Wade plans.
Oklahoma
From fertilisation – thus allows the so called post sex MAP/contraception that prevents fertilisation.
The pregnant woman is not the legal target of the law. Those who help facilitate one for her, as well as those performing the action are liable.
Medical intervention on health grounds is allowed
It allows abortion in the case of pregnancy resulting from reported sexual crime
It does not determine, or otherwise, a position on in vitro
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/19/oklahoma-abortion-ban-fertilization/
Poots' global Holodomor.
https://twitter.com/TelegraphWorld/status/1527658413634768897