tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post5183327814204814269..comments2024-03-26T10:03:51.827+13:00Comments on Karl du Fresne: Con Devitt and the decline of union militancyKarl du Fresnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-58422309598255687012014-10-14T19:40:56.384+13:002014-10-14T19:40:56.384+13:00Obviously none of the above commentators knew or h...Obviously none of the above commentators knew or had Any Connections with Con Devitt. He had the courage and strength of his convictions to stand up and speak his mind.He believed workers, all workers no matter what there station in life, were entitled to their fair share of the common wealth. History will prove him to be more popular than Muldoon and many other vacant politiciansHammer and Anvilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10027630045851269186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-73764169199334265442014-08-04T15:08:01.619+12:002014-08-04T15:08:01.619+12:00It's a little ironic to see this post as the h...It's a little ironic to see this post as the health workers have just voted to strike! <br /><br />( This post, a few days beforehand, could not have foreseen that though. ) <br /><br />Anyway - IMO the unions still have *far* too much power and influence. I'm thinking of the education unions in particular. <br />Hopefully the introduction of charter schools will steadily chip away at their power. If the government gets back in this year (and in 2017) then even if Labour were elected in 2020 they would be *fools* to close them down (for what would be purely ideological reasons). <br /><br />The Maritime Union (MUNZ) could also do with hammering. Given that fully automated container ports are starting to be introduced in Australia, I suspect that it won't be many years until they arrive here. MUNZs power will then be hugely reduced and their jobs will be replaced by button-pushers in an office by the wharf.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-24534458667873716642014-08-03T16:34:06.828+12:002014-08-03T16:34:06.828+12:00I think that the fact that Chris Trotter (born 195...I think that the fact that Chris Trotter (born 1958) calls himself 'an old New Zealander' pretty well typifies that nostalgia and romantic craving for the 'good old days' that I (born 1941) lived through but of course know didn't actually exist. it's bit like the people who say about those times that people could leave their doors unlocked without fear-yeah right! Times have moved on, its a different world and Labour seem loathe to adapt and yet as you point out the trade union movement have at least tried to adapt.Jigsawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13906156865367357834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-63492838971063107062014-08-02T13:27:58.163+12:002014-08-02T13:27:58.163+12:00Jigsaw,
I suspect that Chris (Trotter) is, at hear...Jigsaw,<br />I suspect that Chris (Trotter) is, at heart, a hopeless romantic and nostalgiarist who pines for the days when heroic trade unionists were trampled under the hooves of Massey's Cossacks.Karl du Fresnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-15991612814558377072014-08-01T20:40:15.911+12:002014-08-01T20:40:15.911+12:00Well said. I well recall most of the things that y...Well said. I well recall most of the things that you mention although I was teaching in the country at the time. I still find that there are echoes of some of those militant unionist attitudes today in people like Chris Trotter who for some reason look back on it as some sort of golden age. The attitude of my children is quite different and unions really don't figure at all in their lives except one of them who has run up against a union when he was an employer. Teacher unions were not always as bad as they are today but in the PPTA there were always those who were activists within a school. In my experience they were often the worst teachers-people who that but for the union they would be out of a job and so made sure the union stayed strong by being active within it. I also taught in Ontario where the teacher unions were strongest and struck at the drop of a hat-no wonder the salaries were the highest in all of North America -no I was on a NZ based salary some 1/3 of the Ontario salary. No wonder their superannuation fund could afford to lose millions on our yellow pages!<br />You reminded how lacking in media training were these old unions like Con - they just snarled at the camera.Jigsawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13906156865367357834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-50232027304616217942014-08-01T11:35:49.965+12:002014-08-01T11:35:49.965+12:00I remember looking out of my Wellington office in ...I remember looking out of my Wellington office in the Williams centre, over at the BNZ skeleton for a couple of years. Those were shameful days of union over-reach. They worked hard for it, and they fully deserve their current demise.<br /><br />I cannot agree that the balance of power has tipped in favour of the employer. You only have to read the ERA rulings, some of which are published in the news papers, to realize just how absurd and one sided the law remains.<br /><br />Health and safety and the enforcement of contracts to one side, the State has no role to play in employer / employee relationships. No one is forced to work for an employer, and no employer is bound to employ someone. If either party is unhappy with the relationship, then they should be free to terminate it based upon their contractual agreement.<br /><br />What’s so difficult and inequitable about that?<br /><br />Recently in a moment of wonderful irony, the staff of the ERA was threatening to go on strike over an employment dispute with the Government.<br /><br />Who would be there to answer the phones when they called for assistance?<br />Brendan McNeillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02741263914308842497noreply@blogger.com