By
David
‘We
are the 99%, we are the 99%...’
‘And
so are you!’ someone added, calling out to the many on-lookers.
‘Join
us,’ others called, and people did.
Two
French rugby supporters clapped their hands in approval. ‘We have
the same problem in France’ they said. They too
were the 99%.
There
were many veteran protests of course (some perhaps wearing their
‘Returned Protester Association badges that were handed out at the
recent celebrations of the 30th Anniversary of the Springbok Tour),
as well as those drawn in via recently emerged movements like the
student protests at Auckland University or the Mana party. There were
those who had protested before (but not for a while) and many who
were taking to the streets for the first time.
All
inspired by Occupy Wall Street, a protest that was more than just
marching from A to B, the idea of being part of a global movement,
the start of something new.
What
are the issues?
The policy
of not having a list of demands has infuriated many critics and more
that a few supporters of the movement. But it seems to have worked.
Importantly,
it has allowed groups and individuals to bring their own concerns,
and I’m sure it will encourage people to think about how these
diverse issues are linked to corporate domination. Many would agree
with the sentiments of the Aucklander whose placard said ‘I’m
here for so many reasons’.
Some of
the reasons expressed in the placards and banners and Facebook
comments:
* The
wealth gap between the rich and the rest, growing ever wider as real
wages stagnate or fall, while productivity and profits soar.
* The slow
response and lack of preparation to the Rena oil spill, which was the
long predicted consequence of the deregulation of the shipping
industry.
*
Unemployment, scapegoating of beneficences and the lack of
opportunity even for skilled and educated.
* The
expansion of coal mining and oil drilling, which threatens more oil
spills, when accelerating climate change means we should be moving
away from fossil fuel extraction and cutting CO2 emissions.
* The
failure of the Crown to honour the Treaty’s commitment to tino
rangatiratanga, leaving Maori dispossessed in their own land.
* And,
last but not least, capitalism, corporate control and the corruption
of democracy by the rich elite.
Media
Despite
the general assumption that the mainstream media would either not
cover the protests or simply dismiss them, some of the coverage,
particularly on the TV3
and NZ Herald websites has
generally been good. Stuff
(Dominion, Press etc) on the other hand has been poor, claiming
splits and disorganisation in the Wellington movement and posting a
rambling, poorly edited amalgam of local and international coverage
focusing on a movie star’s alleged attendance at the Auckland
protest.
Earlier
in the day the
Herald
suggested that 2000 people were planning to attend the Auckland
event, taking the number ‘attending’ on the Facebook event page
literally. This is usually not a good idea. On the train into town a
friend speculated that this was a deliberate
ploy by the
Herald to discredit the movement when far fewer turned out. I just
assumed the reporter had never organised an event with Facebook
before.
So what
were we hoping for? As one even organiser put it, ‘the rule is
usually divide by three and subtract 100’. That’s about 560
people. In the event there were clearly more than this. TV3 said
‘thousands’, and posted a video on their website. I would guess
it was a very respectable 1000. The media doesn’t always
under-estimate protests, although Christchurch demonstrators are
adamant their was well over 100, not the 30 reported on Stuff.
Anti-capitalist?
Another
questionable TV3 claim was ‘Anti-capitalism protesters have
gathered in centres across the country’. This is true in the sense
that there were many anti-capitalists activists at each of the
protests.
But it’s
also clear and needs to be respected within the movement that many
people are not comfortable with that label. Some are at pains to
point out that they are against corporatism, not capitalism in
general.
It’s
important for anti-capitalists to respect that distinction, if the
movement is to continue to attract a broad range of people.
At the
same, we could point out that the concentration of wealth and power
into hands of the 1% and their corporations is the inevitable result
of capitalism and has been a central feature of the system for well
over 100 years.
Even the
highly regulated welfare state capitalism of the 50s, 60s and 70s was
dominated by corporate monopolies, even if a powerful (but all too
often bureaucratised) union movement ensured workers got a much
higher share of the wealth their labour produced.
Workers
rights under attack
The
differences between then and now, the why and how the percentage of
wealth and income going to the 1% has sky-rocketed was bought home in
conversations I had with two of the many workers employed in around
Queen Street for the duration of the Rugby World Cup.
Street
cleaners, security guards, transport guides, and no doubt many more,
are working long hours for low pay to make the World Cup a success.
One worker
I spoke to had just a two-hour gap between finishing one shift and
starting the next.
Another,
who was able to join the protest for a few moments before his shift
started, told me a co-worker sleeps in his car because there’s no
time to go home between finishing one day and starting the next.
In 1987,
when the first Rugby World Cup was played in New Zealand,
union-negotiated awards would have ensured these workers got paid
penal rates (time-and-a-half, double-time or even triple-time) for
working on a weekend, working late at night and working more than
eight hours in a day. Which might actually make the exhaustion of a
double shift worthwhile.
As one
cleaner said, ‘the rich get richer...’ And here’s how:
* In the
public sector, cutting wages and contracting out helps central and
local government to reduce business rates and cut taxes for the
wealthy.
* In the
private sector lower pay and higher workloads means corporations,
like Dutch multinational First Security, gets to keep a far bigger
cut of what it gets paid for the work it’s employees carry out.
The Occupy
movement is all about not only highlighting injustices like these,
but finding ways to do something about it.
At the
very least we should invite the RWC workers down to the Aotea Square
Occupation for a chance to relax, an opportunity to talk about their
situation and maybe a more comfortable place to sleep.
