WELLINGTON: More than 100,000 New Zealand teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters and support staff walked off the job on Thursday demanding more money and resources for the public sector in a sign of growing discontent with the country’s center-right government.
Public servants marched with placards and banners in towns across New Zealand, chanting and listening to speeches. Protests in Wellington and Christchurch had to be canceled because of dangerous weather conditions.
The unions in a joint statement last week billed the strike as the largest in decades with more than 100,000 public servants taking part.
Middlemore Hospital emergency doctor and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Vice President Sylvia Boys told the crowd at Aotea Square in Auckland the government had been elected on promises to reduce the cost of living while maintaining frontline services and it was “fair to say these are the issues on which they are failing dismally.”
“The cost of living has worsened, and in health and education we have seen cuts across the sector. We are losing more talent than ever before,” she added in her speech, which was published on Facebook by the ASMS union.
The government has dismissed the protests as a union-orchestrated political stunt, even as the demonstrations highlight growing public unease over the administration’s direction. Recent opinion polls indicate support for the ruling coalition has slipped, though the opposition has yet to open a clear lead.
Since coming to power in 2023, the conservative government has reduced new public spending as it tries to return the government’s accounts to surplus. It has said the cuts would be in back office operations and would keep interest rates low and ensure New Zealand continues to be seen as a good place to invest.
However, the economy has struggled, contracting in three of the last five quarters, and historically high numbers of New Zealanders are leaving the country. While inflation is off its peak, it has ticked higher in the past couple of quarters.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins said in a statement on Wednesday that the proposed strike was unfair, unproductive and unnecessary.
“It is a stunt targeting the Government but the people paying the price are the thousands of patients who have had appointments and surgeries canceled, and the hundreds of thousands of kids who will miss another day at school,” she said. The government said that it was ready to negotiate.
Massive strike in New Zealand as 100,000 demand better pay and conditions
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Massive strike in New Zealand as 100,000 demand better pay and conditions
- Since coming to power in 2023, the conservative government has reduced new public spending as it tries to return the government’s accounts to surplus
- It dismissed the protests as a union-orchestrated political stunt, even as the demonstrations highlight growing public unease over the administration’s direction
UK pro-Palestine campaign urges pressure on councillors ahead of elections
- They are being urged to commit to ‘upholding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
- Research has revealed extensive ties between local council-administered pension funds, Israeli military
LONDON: The Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Wednesday launched a campaign urging local councillors across the UK to commit to “upholding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”
The Councillor Pledge for Palestine is the latest effort by the PSC to build pressure on the UK’s political system and encourage systemic change for the benefit of the Palestinian cause. It comes five months ahead of local elections.
Research conducted by the PSC has revealed extensive financial ties between local councils and the Israeli military.
Pension funds administered by councils invest more than £12.2 billion ($16.2 billion) in companies with direct complicity in Israel’s war in Gaza, which has been deemed by the International Court of Justice to plausibly constitute genocide and ethnic cleansing.
The PSC accused these companies of complicity in Israel’s “genocide, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.”
Among the investments includes £450 million in BAE Systems, the British multinational that manufacturers components for the F-35 jet used by the Israeli Air Force. The Israeli F-35 variant has been used extensively throughout the Gaza war.
Councillors in the UK must “take all appropriate steps to ensure my council is not complicit in Israel’s violations of international law, including through the council divesting pensions and any other funds it administers from complicit companies,” the PSC’s pledge said.
The campaign is encouraging supporters to contact their local councillors and urge them to make the commitment.
Over the coming months, a list of councillors who have done so will be published, with the aim of building a network that supports Palestinian rights across the country.
Ben Jamal, the PSC’s director, said: “It is not just Westminster politicians who have enabled Britain’s complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes. That guilt extends to council chambers as well, with more than £12 billion of local government pension scheme funds invested in companies profiting from Israel's military occupation and system of apartheid against the Palestinian people.
“Our Councillor Pledge for Palestine gives elected representatives an opportunity to show their constituents they are on the right side of history and that they vow to end this complicity.”
More than three times as many voters support councils divesting pension funds from companies complicit in Israeli crimes than oppose it, according to polling conducted earlier this year on behalf of the PSC.
Of that figure, the ratio is six-to-one among Labour voters, seven-to-one among Liberal Democrats and 11-to-one among Greens.
An existing PSC campaign, Local Government Pension Scheme Divest, has led to 27 councils across the UK passing motions or releasing statements supporting the divestment of pension funds.
The campaign is inspired by an anti-apartheid effort launched in 1983, which at its height led to two-thirds of the British population living in areas administered by councils with anti-apartheid policies.
Nelson Mandela acknowledged the campaign’s influence when he visited the UK after his release from prison.
Jamal said: “After more than two years of Israel’s genocide — which continues to this day, despite the so-called ‘ceasefire’ — people up and down the country are demanding politicians stand up and be counted. Councillors across Britain should answer this call and pledge for Palestine today.”
