The horror of low wages

Written By: - Date published: 6:27 pm, October 31st, 2009 - 24 comments
Categories: activism, wages, workers' rights - Tags:

The Unite Halloween-themed $15 minimum wage march went well yesterday. Looks like there were a fair number of people there. Pity there’s no single good shot of the whole crowd (hint for protest photographers) but John Darroch managed to get some pretty cool snaps. Here are a few:

15 dolla min wage rally115 dolla min wage rally215 dolla min wage rally3

 

24 comments on “The horror of low wages ”

  1. Squirrel 1

    Hey thanks for putting them up 🙂 I’ve added a crowd shot its at http://www.flickr.com/photos/12492550@N03/4059603647/

    Crowds are difficult to get into a photo, individual shots are so much easier for lazy photographers 🙂

  2. Why are those kids carrying Socialist Aotearoa posters?

    • illuminatedtiger 2.1

      Free speech? Just a thought.

      • Theirs or their parents’?

        • Galeandra 2.1.1.1

          Your point? Perhaps we should prefer attained-their-years-of majority astro-turfers? It’s great to see young people showing commitment to important issues.

        • Marty G 2.1.1.2

          they’re teens, they get paid minimum wage.. in fact, thanks to unite they don’t get the youth minimum wage anymore, they get the full minimum

          • kiwiteen123 2.1.1.2.1

            I fully support teens giving their opinion, even if I don’t agree with it! (it would be odd if i didn’t :P)

          • Christopher Nimmo 2.1.1.2.2

            But unlike those in the other photos, they aren’t holding Unite posters. They’re holding Socialist Aotearoa posters. Is that one at the front of the bottom picture a teen? I don’t think so. These kids are getting used by their parents and/or Socialist Aotearoa. This wasn’t OK when people were dragging their kids along to Child Discipline Act protests, and it isn’t OK now. Neither is it OK that SA obviously hijacked this protest.

            • kiwiteen123 2.1.1.2.2.1

              Now children are different… 😛 Surely 8 year olds can’t believe in this? Don’t use children, let them make up their own mind!

  3. gitmo 3

    I wouldn’t employ any of that rabble on $10 an hour let alone $15.

  4. Flood 4

    Those ‘rabble’ are the kids that make your pizza, hamburgers and sell you your movie ticket. You should read up on who the unite union supports, its every day kids and teens. The people in our society who do loads of menial service work and have stuff all rights.

  5. So if capitalism isn’t working, what will? The whole world (capitalism or not) doesn’t appear to be working. It’s always has been and always will be like this!
    Communism doesn’t work. Let’s stick away from that, Minto, Bradford etc.

  6. Di 6

    John Minto and Sue Bradford are intelligent people who have a social conscience. They care about society and are prepared to put themselves on the line to be spokespersons for others. They have qualities that gitmo has not yet learned to appreciate- fairness, courage, compassion and empathy.

  7. Sure, increasing wages is a great idea in principle (especially when you don’t have to worry about where the additional money comes from).

    But wouldn’t it have been a logical time to float this idea during the boom times that Labour wasted, oops oversaw rather than during the aftermath of the worst recession in 80 years? Where were the marches 4 years ago?

    And shouldn’t the issue be rather than what we pay our pizza makers but what we pay our scientists and engineers and how we develop the economy?

    • Obviously you have forgotten that the minimum wage increased substantially under Labour. And that every party to Labour’s left was advocating $15 during that period.

      • Daveski 7.1.1

        In other words, no marches. That’s all you needed to say.

        • felix 7.1.1.1

          I think you’ll find that many people felt – rightly or wrongly – that under Labour the minimum wage and other basic workplace conditions were not at risk.

          The Labour-led govt, after all, did enact a fair bit of legislation to guarantee various workplace rights over their 9 years including significant minimum wage rises.

          Some would’ve liked to have seen them go further, sure, but you won’t find many who believe – rightly or wrongly – that Labour were actively working to remove or lower minimum conditions in the workplace. Even if Labour weren’t willing to go as far as many would’ve liked, they had support parties to the left to keep them on course.

          National and ACT, on the other hand…

        • Much of Unite’s fervour during Labour’s reign was spent on the effort to repeal the youth minimum wage. And yes, there were marches in support of this. Many of them. Marching to increase the minimum wage took a lower priority because Labour were actually doing something about it, if not at an ideal pace.

  8. So if capitalism isn’t working, what will? The whole world (capitalism or not) doesn’t appear to be working. It’s always has been and always will be like this!
    Communism doesn’t work. Let’s stick away from that, Minto, Bradford etc.

  9. This is why i don’t go to protests, there is always some jackass with a socialist banner who has never travelled but had a left wing teacher in the seventh form.

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