Grid of posts 2×3

  • Obama – managing the US war effort

    John Edmundson During the lead-up to the 2008 US election, Barack Obama made much of his plans to end the war in Iraq. His bold declaration – that “on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war”. Across the world, many people pinned their hopes on this Read more

  • Rat Patrol and Workers Rights Campaign – fight unfair sackings

    by Michael Ashton An online survey commissioned by the New Zealand Business Council in February found that 1 in 5 people in the workforce fear that they will lose their jobs in 2009. Thirty-nine percent of those indicating they fear job loss are earners of between $20,001 and $30,000 a year, meaning that this category Read more

  • A step forward

    from The Spark March 2009 Finally, nearly a decade into the 21st century women will be legally entitled to breastfeeding breaks at work. From 1 April employers will have to allow women this right and provide a suitable space.  The breaks are unpaid – unless otherwise agreed – so breastfeeding women will be penalised by Read more

  • A work in progress

    Daphna Whitmore The Spark March 2009   Auckland airport’s Centra hotel looks stunning. The newly renovated rooms are spotlessly clean; the beds have fresh crisp linen, folded with envelope precision. Many hands created this perfection. Every day a dozen or more women start cleaning the rooms at 8am. Before they begin they have got children out of Read more

  • New Zealand’s Imperialist attitude toward Fiji

    Byron Clark The Spark March 2009 In what John Key has described as sending “a strong message” Pacific Forum leaders voted earlier this year to suspend Fiji from the Forum unless the interim government sets an election date before May 1. The suspension means that Fiji cannot attend meetings between forum leaders, ministers or officials; Read more

  • Nestle – there’s blood in your coffee

    Around 20 people protested inside Nestle New Zealand’s head office in down town Auckland, Friday 6 March, against the murder of unionists in the Phillipines and to show solidarity with the 600 Nestle workers in the Philippines who have been on strike for seven years. Read more