The Workplace – FightBack

Why we need fewer cops

October 31, 2008 by Admin

Talk given by Workers Party Manukau East candidate Daphna Whitmore at an election meeting at Otahuhu College, Auckland 29 October 2008

I want to talk about law and order and police in South Auckland. The Workers Party believe we need fewer cops, not more cops as most of the parties are saying.

I work for a union that is organising worksites such as McDonalds.

For the past month McDonald’s workers have taking strike action. There have been over 40 strikes in the past 30 days. These McDonald’s staff work hard; they are on their feet all day and get just over $12 hour. It’s a poverty wage and the hours of work are uncertain, going up and down each week.

McDonald’s workers at Auckland Airport went on strike a couple of weeks ago. It was a perfectly legal strike and they stood outside in the carpark to hold a peaceful picket. But the security bosses at the airport tried to stop the strikers and called the cops who were there in minutes.

Health workers on strike

October 23, 2008 by Admin

Workers at Counties Manakau District Health Board Sterile Supply Unit are taking strike action from 22 to 24 October 2008. Their collective agreement expired on 1 July 2007, and they are still waiting for a decent offer from the employer. The staff have rejected the Health Board’s offer on the basis of: the term of the agreement, their refusal to pay back pay and the failure to include a fifth week of annual leave.

The workers, who are members of the Northern Amalgamated Workers Union held a high spirited picket outside the DHB’s headquarters on the first day of action. The constant toots of support from South Auckland drivers was near-deafening, so hopefully the bosses over the road have got the message.

Filed Under: Workers in Struggle

Don Franks’ address to election meeting at St Anne’s Northland-Wilton Anglican Parish 21/10 /08

October 22, 2008 by Admin

Good evening and thanks for inviting the Workers Party to speak at this parish.

The parish I originate from myself is St Albans in Eastbourne. That was quite a long time ago and for the last 40 years I’ve been resident and working in Wellington.

Every election we hear some politicians claiming to uphold and defend Christian values.

The party I belong to, the Workers Party, makes no such claim, and we see religion as a private affair. However, as a former Sunday school pupil from St Alban’s parish, I’m sometimes drawn to wonder how the carpenter of Nazareth might have related to Workers Party policies.

Workers should be running the country

October 17, 2008 by Admin

Sanitarios Maracay, a Venezuelan factory under workers control, holds an assembly. Topics covered include the previous boss’s acts of sabotage, logistics of workers control, and socialism of the 21st century.

Filed Under: Venezuela, Workers in Struggle

Labour – not so worker friendly

October 15, 2008 by Admin

Many people recognise that National is no friend of the workers, but should workers and unionists be called on to vote for Labour? They have been in government for the past 9 years but are workers better off as a result? Check the record:

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Filed Under: 2008 Election, NZ Labour Party, Workers in Struggle Tagged With: NZ Labour Party