Solidarity Union was a short lived

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and was founded by activists and delegates, including Joe Carolan of Socialist Aotearoa in August 2006. By 2008 the union had ceased meaningful activity. Grant Morgan was a Trustee in 2010, and Leonard Charles Parker and Peter Michael Hughes in 2012.

Purpose and actions

The union sought to organise workers in clusters in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

around an area strategy building local workers councils. It sees this as an antidote to the bureaucracies created by larger unions in New Zealand. Solidarity was opposed to partnership as a policy, preferring to see a "return to the fighting spirit" of the country's first union movement, the Red Feds. It built a modest base in the South Auckland industrial regions of East Tamaki and Onehunga, organising small engineering firms, glass workers, courier drivers and service workers. In 2007 it was involved in trying to obtain redundancy agreements for glass workers at MetroGlass. Membership of the union had reached 227. In September the union called for workers and students in Aotearoa to rally in support of Burmese anti-junta protests. Under New Zealand legislation (Section 16 of the Employment Relations Act 2000) a registered union must file an annual membership return. In its 2008 return it had 3 members and its 2009 return said the Union was in recess. The Executive of the Union urged its members to join the

National Distribution Union The National Distribution Union (NDU) was a national trade union in New Zealand. It was formed in 1986 as the ''Northern Distribution Union'' by the merger of The Northern Drivers Union, The Northern Stores and Warehouse Union, The Auckland an ...

. By 2012 the Solidarity Union of New Zealand Incorporated was deregistered.

References

{{Reflist Trade unions in New Zealand General unions Trade unions established in 2006

Purpose and actions

See also

References