Socialist media project based in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
Wednesday, 26 August 2009 6:00 – 7:30 ClubSpace, Floor 3, Student Union Building, Auckland University
Fred Hampton was the leader of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. “The Murder of Fred Hampton” depicts his brutal murder orchestrated by the Chicago police and the FBI, its subsequent investigation and also documents his activities in organizing the Chapter, his public speeches, and the food and medical programs he founded for children during the last eighteen months of his life.
The Telecom workers’ dispute is heating up. Auckland has seen striking workers marching up Queen St and picketing the Telecom HQ. On 18 August, around 300 headed for Alexandra Park for an unpaid meeting called by their union, the EPMU. The mood was upbeat and defiant. Their direct employer, Visionstream, is intent on forcing workers into a “dependent contractor” employment relationship. Workers would be expected to provide their own vehicle and materials, without any guarantee of work available. The union sought a legal opinion, which found that “each individual could be facing a pay cut from 50-66%.” [Read more…]
Public Meeting: Wednesday 19th August 7pm Clubspace, University of Auckland (above the quad)
In 2008 hundreds of thousands of Koreans joined massive candle light vigils protesting the right-wing government of Lee Myung Bak. A wide cross section of people were angered by Lee’s policies of privatisation, attacks on public education and his decision to allow imports of US beef despite fears over Mad Cow Disease. Following the protests the government launched a heavy crack down on democratic freedoms. Riot police brutally attacked demonstrators. Many protest leaders were imprisoned.
Recently the occupation of the Ssangyong auto factory by 600 workers, facing off attacks by police helicopters, tear gas and tasers has received media attention around the World.
Jacob Lee, a member of the Korean socialist group All Together, will give a first hand account of the militant mass movements in Korea.
All welcome! (Organised by Socialist Aotearoa)
The Middle East is of vital strategic importance to the United States and Israel plays an important part in the grand imperialist plan. When discussing U.S foreign policy in relation to Israel and the Middle East people like to speak of the almighty Jewish lobby groups and how they manipulate and control the U.S government. Chomsky writes in his book Fateful Triangle; “Reference to Jewish influence over politics and opinion seriously under estimates the scope of the so-called ‘support for Israel’” “No pressure group will dominate access to public opinion or maintain consistent influence over policy-making unless its aims are close to those of elite elements with real power” “America’s relationship to Israel ‘has been determined primarily by the changing role that Israel occupied in the context of America’s changing conceptions of its political-strategic interests in the Middle East.’”
This same principle applies to the election of a new President in the United States, which if you are to believe the rhetoric and the propaganda, can mean real “change” not only in America but around the world. The very idea that the nature of U.S imperialism and the political-strategic interests that shape foreign policy (and have been built upon over many years of war, bloodshed and clandestine politics) could be altered by the election of one capitalist President over another shows a lack of any real analysis of the true nature of U.S imperialism and its so called democracy. Obama himself provided a fascinating insight into this when recently he stated that “support for Israel in this country goes beyond party”. [Read more…]
Telecom lines engineers will begin a second round of nationwide strike action over their employers’ refusal to offer redundancy protection at a time of uncertainty in the industry.
The nationwide strike action will affect Telecom’s phone, internet and eftpos services from Invercargill to Kerikeri, and will involve 900 workers from Telecom’s Australian-owned contractors Transfield Services and Downer EDI.
The action comes as North Shore lines engineers enter their fifth day of ongoing strike action.
EPMU national industry organiser Joe Gallagher says the lines engineers are striking for redundancy protections in an industry increasingly destabilised by Telecom’s contracting model.
Join the strikers in Tuesday 11 August, at 9am Hopetoun Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland
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