Our Union-Powered Past
Labour’s workplace relations policy has sparked fears of a return to the 1970s. But what exactly was happening in the 1970s?
Employment
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s policy resurgence, and Alex Chilton
For much of this year, almost all the diversity in politics has been down at the retail end, where apparent differences reside in the tone, and in details.
Land of the Long White Egalitarian Myth
It isn’t only foreigners who buy into the myth of New Zealand as an equal opportunity Paradise
Gordon Campbell on plastic bag activism, and street harassment
What has aroused the ire of Act Leader David Seymour this time is the introduction of a Greens private members bill to the ballot process, “calling for a 15 cents levy on plastic bags to reduce pollution.”
Gordon Campbell on NZ homecare workers and US voting rights
Hopefully, the unions will not lie down and meekly accept yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling on the employment status of support worker Janet Lowe.
Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s Budget
Budgies, so their Wikipedia page says, are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. […]
Gordon Campbell on political rhetoric, and the Dark Triad
Unfortunately, the systematic use of tax avoidance strategies – by corporates and by wealthy individuals – is not occurring in a vacuum. At an accelerating […]
Gordon Campbell on the sense of entitlement shared by Fonterra, Affco and Todd Barclay
Fonterra’s explanation for its behavior towards the small firms it engages – it has reportedly asked its suppliers to reduce their charges in order ‘to […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s free education plan, Iowa and Jefferson Airplane
The “free” education policy that Labour has just unveiled has some obvious shortcomings. The universities are right to stress that the cuts to their net […]
Gordon Campbell on the gender pay gap
Column – Gordon Campbell Care to know what Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence thinks about the gender wage gap? No? Well, I suppose she is […]
Gordon Campbell on what Uber and The Hobbit have in common
Remember the Great Hobbit Fiasco of 2010 – when John Key, Gerry Brownlee etc bowed and scraped to the lords of Warners and changed our […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s stalling on health and safety
In the last five years, workplace accidents have killed nearly 300 workers in this country. Yesterday’s accident at a quarry in Canterbury once again demonstrates […]
Gordon Campbell on the centre-left’s quest for economic ‘credibility’
Yesterday, the Guardian published a long, fascinating account of the infighting and tactical manoeuvring within Ed Miliband’s UK Labour leadership team during the last eighteen […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2015
From the outset, the slogan for yesterday’s Budget – “The Plan Is Working” – begged to be mocked. There’s actually a plan for the national […]
Gordon Campbell on a union victory in the fast food industry
Good to have a reminder of why trade unions are still essential in the 21st century. The scrapping of zero hour contract provisions by the […]
Gordon Campbell on the Northland by election, and a TPP news round-up
Incredibly, Winston Peters is back at centre stage of New Zealand politics, and in the role he likes best – as the virtuous underdog, fighting […]
Gordon Campbell on the wage hike for MPs (and Paul Robeson)
Hard to tell what is more infuriating. Is it the 5.3% increase on the already bloated salaries of MPs, or their pantomime of outrage at […]
Gordon Campbell on the dumping of bad news at Christmas
Gordon Campbell on the dumping of bad news at Christmas By Gordon Campbell If the government really did have good tidings of great joy you […]
Gordon Campbell on the Lyttleton executive pay scandal, and more TPP problems
It isn’t often that one story can encapsulate (a) the bogus rhetoric used to justify sky-high pay packages for top executives, (b) the unequal way […]
Gordon Campbell on the Greens proposal to gradually lift the minimum wage
Heading into the election home stretch, voters have a clear choice about the best way to help low and middle income New Zealanders. They can […]
Gordon Campbell on Dotcom, and recent events at Scoop
The apparent resignation of Alastair Thompson from Scoop – there seems to be some dissent as to whether he has resigned or gone on sabbatical […]
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle By Gordon Campbell Of all the ways of trying to save “up to” $60-70 million – and […]
On the relevance of the latest Hobbit revelations
This morning’s release by RNZ of its OIA requests on The Hobbit is not ancient history. It offers a rare glimpse into the fashion in […]
On short term contracting in the public service, and paid parental leave
It is always dangerous to base a story on personal experience… So this is being offered mainly out of curiosity, to see whether anyone out […]
On corporate manslaughter, and France’s upcoming elections
Yesterday, the Pike River inquiry heard renewed calls for a criminal charge of corporate manslaughter to be put on the books in New Zealand. “Some […]
On charter schools, and DoL backdown at Pike River
Years ago and in a more innocent time, whenever advertising agencies wanted to spice up a product for local consumers they would use the word […]
On Defence’s failed policy of “civilianisation”
One of the tried and true maxims of management is that business hates uncertainty – because, don’t you know, business can’t be done in a […]
On yesterday’s welfare reform announcements
We’ve all become more politically literate the hard way over the last couple of decades. The words “efficient” and “greater efficiency” for instance, has been […]
On income inequality
The OECD report this week that has found New Zealand to have one of the fastest growing income gaps in the entire OECD will come […]
On the Labour Party leadership race
Newness is in the air, in every sight and every sound. Both candidates seeking to become Labour’s next leader have been citing the need for […]