Review: Teamster Rebellion

February 2, 2009 by

Teamster Rebellion is a classic, and highly recommended for anyone interested in strengthening the union movement as we head into recession. First in the Teamster series, this compelling account of the 1934 strikes in Minneapolis sheds light on the rewards of worker militancy. Author Farrell Dobbs was one of the central leaders at the time, and he lays out the various strategies and pitfalls of the strike with admirable clarity.

Dobbs makes it clear that the biggest setback for workers in the Great Depression was a bureaucratic union movement. In fact, membership in unions actually declined in the early days of the Depression. Dobbs describes the “business unionism” of the American Federation of Labour, involving strict division of crafts, a minimum of strikes and suppression of dissidence.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Revolutionary History

Fuck John Key

January 29, 2009 by

(Music by Chuck Berry)

 On the plutey side of Auckland where the salaries swell

In a half acre mansion in the middle of Parnell

Created out of value stole from you and me

There lives a little arsehole that they call John Key

He learned how to play the figures really well

To help the bosses screw the workers down to hell

GO – GO JOHNNY  GO – GO JOHNNY  GO -GO JOHNNY  GO – GO – GO JOHNNY  GO –TORY FUCK OFF

He came into power by saying he’d tax much less

And doing that would fix the economic mess

Exploiters at the top are going to benefit

While all the rest of us sink lower in the shit

We didn’t used to live in bloody paradise

But no rights for ninety days just tightens up the vice

( chorus)

Now some say the way to lose this Tory germ

Is voting Labour back to have another term

Well, we tried that tactic back in ’84

The slash we got from Rogernomics still feels raw

Don’t let any yuppie bastard fool ya

We need a change of system, not a change of ruler

( chorus)

 Don Franks 2009

Filed Under: National Party

Water Metering: Letter to the Capital Times

January 27, 2009 by

This is a response to a Capital Times article, Hold Your Water (Vol  34  No 11) which argued for compulsory water metering as a conservation measure. Unfortunately the article is not online.

Your article Hold Your Water argued for water metering as a conservation measure. However, domestic water metering is symptomatic of an approach to conservation that shifts the costs of bad infrastructure onto consumers.

Like any user-pays system, water metering hits those on lower incomes hardest. There are alternatives. Fitting houses with rainwater tanks can conserve up to 40% of potable water, without significantly limiting real consumption. If you add greywater recycling and drycomposting toilets to the equation, households can conserve up to 70%. However, these measures don’t have the ongoing financial benefits that meters do.

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Filed Under: Environment

Christchurch WP forum: Solidarity with the Palestinians!

January 26, 2009 by

intifada1

The brutal Israeli invasion and occupation of Gaza has led growing numbers of people around the world to question whether Israel can ever act in any way other than what we’ve seen in Gaza in recent weeks. Come along to this month’s Workers Forum and hear about how the state of Israel was set up through the dispossession of the Palestinians and about their continuing struggle for liberation.

Speakers: Paul Hopkinson and Mike Walker

Wednesday 28 January, 7pm
Workers Educational Association, 59 Gloucester St (opposite City Art Gallery)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Innocent man shot and killed by police in Auckland

January 26, 2009 by

Jared Phillips

On Friday 23 January, Halatau Naitoko – a 17 year old Pacific Island father – was shot in the chest by police who were in pursuit of an armed bag snatcher. The shooting took place on the North-Western motorway where the suspect attempted to switch get-away vehicles. Naitoko was driving a van, doing courier work.

The lack of clarity and contradictory nature of the information around the events is troubling. Some reports indicated that shots came from the offender throughout the pursuit but not at the scene of the fatal shooting. Police in early reports on the following Saturday implied that the offender was firing shots at the scene of the fatal shooting.

The Herald on Sunday reported that the Auckland Assistant Police Commissioner told a press conference that the suspect’s shotgun had one shell in the bridge, indicating a shot had been fired, while witnesses are reported to have said that shots had been fired throughout the pursuit. Some sources say that the suspect fired upon a police helicopter, however, the police could not confirm it.

It took the police over 24 hours following the incident to publicly admit that the fatal bullet was from a police weapon. The events still do not make sense to the public who should not have to wait around for a full inquiry before accurate details are made available.

Naitoko’s fiancé Stephanie Cook told the Herald on Sunday that ‘I am so angry, they should have been more careful. It is going to take more than an apology. They have taken away my daughter’s father – she is never going to know him… I am so angry I hope they get what’s coming to them.’ In the same report Naitoko’s father is quoted as saying ‘I want justice… I am angry he has lost his life for no reason at all. They could have used different methods to get the guy’.

In its statements the New Zealand Police are appealing for public sympathy. While it is undoubtedly true that the police who were directly involved in the shooting will be regretful, this is not a reason to defend the police over the issue. Just as Naitoko’s fiancé and father have done, progressive forces, community leaders, and others must denounce the shooting. A strong signal of outrage needs to be sent to the government and the police force. If the police force is not criticised we can only expect a steady escalation of police powers and a normalisation of, or desensitising to, these kinds of incidents.

Filed Under: Police
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