Just like in 1991, National is attacking both the waged and unwaged wings of the working class at the same time. We interviewed Paul Blair of the Rotorua Welfare Action Group about their response to National’s assault on beneficiaries (for example, by cutting emergency benefits and forcing many sickness and domestic purposes beneficiaries to work). They held an incendiary protest on July 12 in Rotorua.

What is your personal and political background?

Working class Catholic grew up in Canterbury/Bankstown area of Sydney Australia. My father was a member of the Australian communist party in the early fifties when it was banned by the State. Came to NZ in 1969 basically to dodge the draft into the Vietnam war and then ended up staying. Worked as a truck driver, labourer, and in low paid jobs. Learnt lessons of unionism as a unionised driver with the Coca Cola company in Sydney in the sixties.

Benefited from free University education in Auckland in the seventies, turned on by Marxist thought, and worked as a teacher and later graduated in law from Waikato Uni and admitted to the bar in 2009. Went on first political march in 1976 against attacks on DPB’s. Politicised by the 1981 Springbok tour and lost all respect for “Law” and “State”. I describe myself as a left socialist-anarchist-atheist.

Can you give some specifics about the recent beneficiaries demonstration in Rotorua?

The rally/demonstration theme was chosen so that if only a handful turned out the demonstration could still go ahead without losing credibility. On the other hand if a good crowd turns up we could march on the road. As it turned out we had about a hundred people (see photos) turn out so we marched around to the National Party Offices with our demands. A good turn out for Rotorua in the middle of winter.

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The National Government recently announced a series of new attacks on workers across New Zealand. The raft of proposed changes to the anti-worker Employment Relations Act (ERA, brought in by the previous Labour Government in 2000) and the Holidays Act will serve to further cut job security, wages and conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers in both the public and private sectors.

What are the changes?

Perhaps the biggest change is the expansion of the 90 day fire at will scheme. Under this, any worker can be fired within the first 90 days of employment without any way to legally challenge this. When originally introduced following the 2008 election, this only applied to workers in workplaces with 19 or fewer employees (around 1/3 of the total workforce) however the proposed expansion would see it cover all workplaces. Since it was brought in, approximately 22% of workers hired under the scheme have been fired within 90 days, many given neither a reason nor a warning of what was about to occur, leaving them financially screwed.

A number of changes have also been proposed to the personal grievance process and the way the Employment Relations Authority works. All these changes make it harder for workers to challenge harassment, unjust firings and other problems and while making it easier for the bosses to get their way in a system that is already slanted in their favour.

We will also be pressured into working more often. The time honoured tradition of pulling a sickie is under attack (see elsewhere in this issue of Solidarity for details). Meanwhile, the 4th week of annual leave will soon be able to be exchanged (for cash), as will public holidays (for other days). National is declaring that both of these exchanges must be initiated by the employee, but in reality many workers will no doubt be pressured by their bosses into making them, especially those workers in the first 90 days of their contracts who are in constant fear of being fired! This all adds up to more work for an already overworked population.

Workers who want to join a trade union may find it much harder if the proposed changes go through. Unions will require permission from the employer before they can set foot on the property, meaning it will be especially difficult for unions to get onto sites where they don’t already have members. Additionally, companies will be able to communicate directly with workers during collective bargaining meaning yellow unions (unions run by the company) may become more common, with the associated drop in wages and conditions.

Separate from this lot of law changes but also coming up soon is a private members bill from National MP Tau Henare, which would place further restrictions on strike activity. The bill, which would force unions to hold secret ballots for all strike activity, would give bosses another avenue with which to have strikes declared illegal, at a time when workers are already heavily restricted in their choice of industrial activity by the ERA.

What can we do?

• Talk to your workmates: Build a culture in your workplace where you all support each other when there’s an issue, even if it only effects one or two people. Collectivise problems – it’s much harder for the boss to ignore a larger number of workers.
• Take industrial action where possible: Work to rules, go slows, taking lunch breaks at the same time, strike activity and more. As workers we produce the wealth that lines our bosses pockets – by threatening that profit we can force bosses to give into our demands. When we do engage in industrial activity, make sure it is controlled by us, not by trade unions. While unions can sometimes be useful (for legal protection, resources etc), industrial activity is our weapon, not theirs, and should be controlled by us without interference.
• Support other workers’ struggles: We’re all in this together, and one strong workplace won’t be enough. If you hear of another workplace that’s going out on strike, and you can make the picket line, go and stand with them. If you can’t, support them in other ways - there may be a strike fund you can donate to, or even just go in when they’re not striking and let the workers know that you support them.
• Don’t rely on the trade unions or the Labour Party: The response of the Council of Trade Unions (the umbrella body for NZ unions) to these latest attacks has been pitiful. They have announced they will distribute 20,000 copies of a “Fairness at Work” leaflet – not even enough to reach 10% of their affiliate unions’ membership, let alone the millions of ununionised workers. The Labour Party introduced the anti-worker ERA in its last term in power and has shown time and time again that it is no friend to the working class. In opposition it may encourage members to attend protests, but in Government it’ll just be more of the same.
• This is our fight: These attacks impact on all of us who are forced to work to survive. We, the working class, must stand together and fight in our workplaces to not only protect what little we have, but to create a better future for us all. Separate we will fall, but together we have a chance to win.

An AWSM member recently conducted an interview with the Zwiazek Syndykalistow Polski (ZSP), an anarchosyndicalist union based in Poland, about their activities and the class struggle in Poland.

The ZSP is an anarchosyndicalist union in Poland. Can you tell us a bit about it, when did it form and has there been similar organisations in Polish history? Where has it drawn inspiration from?

ZSP was formed in 2007 with a small group of people from a few cities and has been growing ever since. Before the war there was an anarchosyndicalist movement in Poland but it was smashed by the Nazis and then by the communists. ZSP was formed because of the need to have such a group in Poland now.

What is the membership like? Where in Poland does ZSP exist and does the group seem to be growing since forming?

There are different people. Recently more young people started joining as well. The two biggest groups are in Wroclaw and in Warsaw, but there are also groups in Szczecin and regional groups in Silesia, Mazovia and in Mazuria. Now some individual members are popping up and trying to form groups in new cities. There is also an education section which is spread around Poland.

Is there a high level of class consciousness in Poland and a strong working class movement?

Class consciousness? Not really. The irony of living in a post-communist country is that, since many people rebelled against the system, people developed a very strong pro-capitalist mindset.

The working class movement exists, although not as strong in some places. Union membership is comparatively high in Poland, but this has traditionally been in the budget sector and state-run or formerly state-run factories and in heavy industry. But high union concentration does not always mean that the workers are involved in any struggles. In some cases, the unions actually prevent the struggles from happening.
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A world without prisons: Public discussion

7pm, August 4th
Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba Street (Entrance on Arthur St side)

You are warmly welcomed to join the Wellington Anarchist Black Cross and the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement for a discussion about abolishing prisons. We invite you to bring along your ideas and experience to share…

We live in one of the most incarcerated countries in the Western world. New Zealand is second behind only the United States in imprisoning its population, and primarily imprisons its indigenous population. Incarceration for Maori men is 6x that for the rest of the population and for Maori women, closer to 8x higher.

The very nature of prisons is being fundamentally changed. Under new ‘private’ prisons, incarcerated people will be commodities sold to the lowest bidder. Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections estimates that 4 new prisons will need to be built to accommodate all the people who are being turned into prisoners by the extension of draconian laws and sentencing policies.

Prisons exist to punish and control the poor / working class, not to stop crime or rehabilitate people. Resistance to the prison-industrial complex and the achievement of real justice is possible. It will take organisation and the recognition that prison ‘reform’ is not genuinely possible under capitalism.

Recently a member of AWSM conducted the following interview with Thomas Beagle, of Tech Liberty, who work on issues relating to copyright and other IT related civil liberties issues.

What is your personal background?

My name is Thomas Beagle, I was born in New Zealand and have lived here for most of my life. I’ve been fascinated by computers since I was a kid and most of my working life has been spent in the information technology field and I currently work as a systems administrator in Wellington.

Politically speaking I started as a libertarian (Robert Heinlein blighted many young readers of science fiction) but then I decided that not only did I not like libertarians, but that their views on how people should behave seemed fairly divorced from reality. These days I struggle to define myself - I like markets and individualism but support a strong social safety net and increased equality through redistribution. I am also a strong supporter of democracy and democratic society, thus my interest in civil liberties.

What is the purpose of Tech Liberty?

Tech Liberty is a response to a general problem that is exemplified by: a) the original rewrite of section 92A of the Copyright Act that implemented a “guilt upon accusation” regime, and b) the government’s decision to quietly implement internet censorship.

We saw that people were writing laws to deal with the problems of new technology in which they discarded important civil liberties such as the right to due process and freedom of speech for the sake of expediency. Thus Tech Liberty’s purpose is “defending civil liberties for the digital age”.

Currently we’re a collective although we’re looking at becoming a membership organisation.

What are the origins/history of the Search and Surveillance Bill?

The Search & Surveillance Bill came from the Law Commission’s report on search and surveillance laws. They correctly observed that New Zealand’s laws were confusing, inconsistent and technologically out of date. Their recommendation was to write an overarching law that would set common standards for the use and monitoring of search and surveillance powers. Unfortunately the resulting bill went too far, ignoring whether these powers should exist and extending them from one organisation to another solely for the sake of consistency.

How have people reacted to your campaign so far?

A large number of organisations and people made submissions against the bill, including the Privacy Commissioner, the Human Rights Commissioner, law firms, the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties and a host of others. When approached, most people have opposed it - no one sees the need for city councils to ever be able to get a warrant to put a secret video camera in your house, for example.

What tactics can be used to stop the Bill? Can it be stopped?

The protest so far has resulted in the Select Committee report being delayed and now the bill has been sent back to be redrafted. I believe that this is a victory for everyone who protested and submitted about the bill. The real test will be what comes out of the redrafting process - will it be the originally intended technical rewrite of existing law or the gross extension of state powers?

If it’s the second we’re going to have a fight on our hands, especially considering that the two major parties have no interest in civil liberties and are continually trying to outbid each other when it comes to “being tough on crime”. I believe it’s going to be important to fight on both the intellectual front (submissions, position papers, etc) and the popular front (demonstrations, petitions, etc). I like to think that New Zealanders have a visceral dislike of snooping and we’re going to have to tap into that.

What do you see as the longer term consequences for society if the Bill passes into law?

The draft bill was a major extension of state power and moved New Zealand one step closer to being a police state. I don’t believe we want to live like that, with the feeling that you could be being watched and monitored at any time, even in your own home. We know that governments inevitably abuse the powers they do get, so it’s important to only give them the very minimum necessary.

On the wider front, technology is already eroding our privacy in a number of ways because data is now so much easier to collect and process. We should be looking at strengthening the laws that protect us from invasions of privacy, not eroding them further.

Download issue in .pdf format (0.99MB)

The tenth issue of Solidarity, free newssheet of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement. Download the .pdf above, or click below to read the contents online.

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