Socialist media project based in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
Wellington’s Southern Cross tavern was buzzing on May Day with the launch of Unite’s campaign for a $15 minimum wage . The Brass Razzoo band played, and were joined by a visiting group from Australia, the Hobart Grass Roots Union Choir. 
Auckland’s annual May Day march was joined this year by a large contingent from the Tamil community. They were protesting the massacres being carried out by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamils.
Produced by Vive TV in Venezuela, this new documentary on FRETECO explores the movement of occupied factories and workers’ control in Venezuela. From the Mitsubishi auto plant to the Inveval valve plant; from the Gotcha T-Shirt factory to the INAF hardware factory, workers young and old, male and female, tell their stories and explain why they came to the realization that demanding nationalization under workers’ control is the only way forward. With examples explaining how factory and workers’ councils function, the role of the communal councils, and the movement for “trade unionism of a new type,” this video provides a living, breathing look at a crucial aspect of the Venezuelan Revolutionary process.
Subtitles courtesy of Hands Off Venezuela.
Rebecca Broad The Spark May 2009
The Obama administration announced changes to travel and money transfer restrictions on Cuban-Americans in April, which allow travel to Cuba of unlimited frequency, no cap on money transfer amounts and the ability to send clothes and certain personal hygiene items. These are welcome but very minimal changes, which don’t even go so far as to include non Cuban-Americans. [Read more…]
Daphna Whitmore
The Spark May 2009
Compared to most western countries, New Zealand workers have pretty meagre holidays. An international survey published April 2009 (www.expedia.com) found that New Zealand workers have fewer holidays than many other Western countries. The gap is likely to widen with a new law proposed by the government. The Nats want workers to be able to cash up their fourth week’s holiday each year. Currently, holidays must be taken as time off work and cannot be swapped for money. According to the Minister of Labour, Kate Wilkinson, “surveys show most workers only take three weeks’ leave each year, so if they want to trade in that fourth week and their employer agrees then it’s a win-win.”
Yeah right. [Read more…]
In a very encouraging development amidst the recent nationalist statements made by some union leaders, over 100 migrant workers, unionists and migrant advocates met in Auckland in April to discuss the way forward.
Dennis Maga spoke on behalf of Migrante Aotearoa, a trade union-supported project that actively defends migrant workers. He discussed two widely-reported cases where employers had made dozens of workers redundant, but retained migrants on work permits. Migrante is concerned that the right wing backlash unleashed in the wake of such cases could further marginalise migrants, and in future, migrant workers may be prioritised for redundancy. [Read more…]
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