Mike Kay
A Private Member’s Bill introduced by the National Party MP Tau Henare has been drawn from the ballot to be debated in Parliament. The Bill proposes to amend the Employment Relations Act as follows:
“A strike may not proceed under this Act, unless the question has been submitted to a secret ballot of those employees who are members of the union that would become parties to the strike if it proceeded.”
The Council of Trade Unions has announced its “support in principle” for the bill, “as it largely reflects current practice.”
The British experience may be of some use in analysing the effect of secret ballots. Over there, the law has required a secret ballot prior to strike action for nearly 30 years. I asked an official with the Postal section of the Communication Workers Union his opinion on the issue. This is his response: [Read more…]
Press release Date: 18/03/2010
Due to the generosity and support of progressive people in New Zealand for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian cause, the PFLP solidarity campaign are happy to announce the first transfer of funds. One Thousand NZ Dollars raised by the campaign has been received by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine for their use in whatever manner they deem most effective in resisting ongoing Israeli oppression, racism and military occupation.
Wellington March 2010 protesting imprisonment of PFLP leader
The majority of the money has been raised through the sale of “Resistance is not Terrorism” t-shirts throughout the country. A new t-shirt is being designed featuring Leila Khaled, PFLP activist and resistant fighter, and will be released at a nationwide launch on the anniversary of the creation of the Zionist state of Israel, known by Palestinians as the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, on May 15th. [Read more…]
New Zealand’s involvement in the occupation of Afghanistan has been commonly perceived as a humanitarian role. John Edmundson demolishes that myth and looks at what the occupation is really about.
The Situation so far
On 10 August 2009, Prime Minister John Key announced that the SAS (Special Air Service) would return to Afghanistan. This announcement had been predicted for some time so came as no surprise. The troops are being deployed in three rotations over 18 months and the full deployment involves 70 soldiers over that time period. At the same time, over that 18 months the NZ Army’s Provincial Reconstruction Team – NZ’s major commitment to the war – are being gradually reduced and eventually withdrawn, their work to be replaced by civilian work on agriculture, health and education. But the SAS deployment may in fact last much longer. The war in Afghanistan is going badly for the US -led coalition and few military people or civilian analysts are prepared to go public with an estimate of how much longer it could go on. A time frame as short as 18 months seems unlikely and if the war continues for years, there will be further requests for extensions to the troop commitment. With the Obama administration massively expanding the war effort, not just through increased troop numbers in Afghanistan, but an increasing involvement in Pakistan also, the war could well drag on for years. read more
Ben on 95bFM
Hear Ben’s interview where he talks about the revolutionary changes in Nepal http://www.95bfm.co.nz/assets/sm/195354/3/BenPeterson.mp3
Don Franks
Well done the three antiwar activists from the Ploughshares group, and 
the jury who found them not guilty of burglary and intentional damage in the Wellington District Court. The not guilty verdict relates to charges laid when the men deflated one of the domes at the Waihopai spy base near Blenheim two years ago. [Read more…]
Ben Peterson’s speaking tour of New Zealand began today in Auckland.
Ben Peterson
Tomorrow he’s being interviewed by Mikey Havoc on 95bFM at 8.15, and speaking at Auckland university at 1pm.
Ben gives a fascinating, first hand account of the big changes taking place in Nepal.
Activists gathered in Auckland today outside the US consulate to protest the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Marking the anniversary of the Iraq invasion 7 years ago the protesters demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops, including and especially the NZ SAS and other military in Afghanistan.
The Workers Party had a PFLP banner, as part of a solidarity campaign with the Palestinian liberation movement
Workers Party with the PFLP banner
The protested ended on a fitting note, with old shoes being hurled at the Consulate.
Reprinted from UNITYblog
Ben was kind enough to answer some questions for UNITYblog about his experiences in Nepal.
When did you go to Nepal? How long were you there for?
I was in Nepal last year from the beginning of March to July, about four and half months in total.
Why did you go to Nepal?
I went to Nepal specifically to see the social and political transformations taking place there. I’d first come into contact with the revolutionary process there in 2006, but didn’t really start to study what was happening there until 2008 when the Maoists won the Constituent Assembly elections. The more I read into what was happening there the more excited I was. But all the time it was really hard to find good and reliable sources of information, particularly from a progressive point of view. So I decided that to really get a handle of what’s happening there, I should go and see it for myself. [Read more…]
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