Thursday 20 January 2005

Tamihere Speech Symptom Of Labour’s Philosophical Vacuum

“Labour Party spokesperson John Tamihere’s declaration that ‘there is no such thing as a left or a right any more’ and that ‘capitalism has won’ merely indicates how far to the right the Labour Party has swung,” said Nadine Marshall, Secretary of the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) today.

“Labour’s view on race is equally troubling with Tamihere and Trevor Mallard playing the Uncle Tom and redneck roles respectively in an unprincipled lurch to the right in an attempt to stop the move of voters towards National,” said Nadine Marshall.

“What is useful is that Labour has shown its true colours by engaging in union bashing so workers can see where the Party really stands. Tamihere and his cabinet colleagues must be living in a cocoon if they think the struggle for better wages and conditions should end.”

“The reality for the increasing numbers of low paid workers is that businesses are making huge profits out of the wealth workers create and workers are not getting their fair share,” said Nadine Marshall. “The governments’ deliberate policy of promoting pay disparity has merely seen the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

“Workers will see Tamihere and therefore the Labour Party as the mouthpiece of business interests while unions remain the only way they can get a fair share of New Zealand’s wealth,” said Nadine Marshall.

ENDS

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