International Socialists

Socialist Review

Just what do the immenese changes of the past few years mean? Will Labour and the Alliance (or the Greens for that matter) really make things better? Why did the unions completely fail to do anything to resist Rogernomics or the Contracts Act?

To answer these questions we need to look back a little into history - to the changes in the international economy and the level of working class resistance and union organisation over the last 30 or so years.

In this special editorial, we examine why these changes took place, why fightbacks seem to be at such a low level right now, and why, despite all this, the need for a real alternative has never been stronger.

The sixties and seventies - from peace and love to class war and revolution

From the late 1960s until the early-mid seventies there was a major upturn in working class struggles. This period was marked by a high level of confidence amongst workers and the oppressed to fight for better conditions. Struggles that began with simple economic demands were often transformed into much more generalised struggles for political change. This period saw the revolutionary upheaval in France during May 1968, the "Long Hot Autumn" of strikes in Italy, the wave of strikes in Britain which culminated in the downfall of the Conservative Government in 1974, and the Portuguese revolution of 1974-5.

It was also a period in which social movements of the oppressed - blacks, gays and lesbians, women - emerged as genuinely mass activist movements committed to liberation from oppression achieved through revolutionary change. And, of course, there was the tremendous influence of the worldwide protest movement against US intervention in Vietnam.

What all these struggles highlighted, apart from the fact that the working class had been far from successfully "bought off" by capitalism during the long boom of the 1950s and 60s, was the need for genuine workers' parties built in the democratic, international socialist tradition. The Stalinist parties (especially the French Communist Party) and the social democratic leaders played a key role in demobilising the mass movements of the time.

These patterns also played themselves out in New Zealand. The lack of industrial action for much of the boom years ended abruptly with the upsurge in strike activity which started with the reaction to the Arbitration Court's nil General Wage Order in 1968. It continued through the militant strike waves of the early 1970s, and culminated in the nationwide union campaign against the National Government's attempted freeze on wages in 1976-77.

Social movements protesting against New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War, racism within New Zealand and in South Africa, and women's oppression grew rapidly.

Around the world, and here in New Zealand, a new generation absorbed the belief that people could collectively change the world and change it for the better.

The 80s - collapse of the long boom, rise of the New Right

The world recession in 1974 marks a crucial turning point in economic history. It separates a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity (1945-1973) from one of stagnation, declining real incomes and rising unemployment (1974 to the present).

There was a deepening of the world economic crisis and a dramatic shift to the right in most of the advanced industrialised countries during the 1980s. Rising unemployment weakened the workers' movement. Matching this decline was an increase in employer militancy and business political activism.

By the late eighties these two factors, along with the election of the radical New Right Fourth Labour Government in 1984 had created an extremely right wing political climate in New Zealand.

It is often difficult now to recall just how dominant the New Right's ideas were in the mid to late eighties. It wasn't just that those struggles which did break out were usually defensive in nature (defending existing pay and conditions rather than demanding better ones), but that the whole ideological climate was dominated by "Rogernomics" and neoliberalism (the economic theories associated with the New Right) in general. Between 1984-87 whole sections of the New Zealand working class swallowed the myths of the New Right, that "NZ had to compete internationally," and that "there is no alternative."

The early nineties - fall of the Wall, revival of struggle

The collapse of Stalinism from 1989-91 had an immense political impact in the West. Many interpreted it as heralding the ultimate demise of socialism. But Stalinism has nothing in common with genuine democratic socialism of the kind envisaged by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg and Trotsky.

During the early 1990s the political climate became much more conducive to building fightbacks. Internationally, there was mass political opposition to the Gulf War in 1991, a revolt against the Poll Tax in Britain and the Los Angeles uprising of 1992, general strikes throughout Europe the most notable being the 10 million strong strike against the right wing Berlusconi Government in Italy, and the French mass strikes of December 1995.

In New Zealand, there was opposition to the Gulf War, a major revival in struggle on the campuses, the biggest wave of Mäori protests since the late sixties and early seventies, mass working class opposition to the Contracts Act in 1991, and the successful struggle by the Seafarers to maintain their union in 1994.  The mood of anger that had been building amongst workers, students and the oppressed in response to the ruling class offensive from 1984 onwards, underpinned this revival in struggle.

This revival in the level of  struggle created a political climate in which it became much easier to win people to revolutionary socialist ideas. For example, in New Zealand the International Socialist Organisation was established in Dunedin at the beginning of 1993 and by early 1994 had grown to a national membership of 50.

The mid 1990s

The rise of NZ First during 1996 both contributed to, and in turn was fuelled by, a significant shift in political mood. Winston Peters scapegoated Asian immigrants to shift the blame for the effects of the ruling class offensive (rising unemployment, wage cuts, the health crisis, market rents in state housing, and so forth) away from the bosses and the pro business New Right policies of Labour and National. At the same time, the immigration issue was used to win support from Mäori who, more than any other group, were hit hardest by the ruling class offensive.

The formation of a coalition between NZ First and National following the first MMP election in 1996 had complex and differing effects on the political mood of workers, students and Mäori. At the time, we observed that "This much is clear, the anger [amongst workers, students, Mäori] remains but it is contained by a greater sense of demoralisation than prevailed during the period from 1990-1995."

Looking back, it is now possible to see that the revival of struggle, both within New Zealand and internationally, that took place from 1989 to 1995, started to run out of steam during the second half of the 1990s.

In New Zealand during the mid to late 1990s, many pinned their hopes for change on MMP, the Alliance and increasingly Labour. While we argued that MMP and reformist parties like Labour and the Alliance would not bring about real change, many workers, students and Mäori did (or at least hoped that they would).

Following the 1996 election and the formation of the first coalition government under MMP, they were betrayed by NZ First, which campaigned with a clear anti National rhetoric, and were angry that National continued to behave in power as if nothing had changed.

But this anger did not, unfortunately, lead to a revival of working class struggle. Rather, workers and the oppressed turned to Labour as the only avenue for change that they saw open to them. The tiny socialist organisations that existed at the time were far too small to offer an alterative.

The 1999 election and after - where to from here?

The defeat of National and ACT at the last election, despite the massive level of business financial backing for these parties, was very significant. (See article on Business support for political parties) It reflected a political mood within the working class and sections of the urban middle class that had become much more conscious of, and strongly opposed to, the pro business ideology and policies of the New Right. But this political mood was, at the same time, contained by a strong sense of demoralisation, passivity and powerlessness.

Why has this been the case? To be honest, we don't know for sure. We would have a much clearer understanding of the processes involved if the International Socialists were a much larger organisation with 500-600 members spanning a broad range of different working class occupations. But we are not in that position, and therefore we are reliant on much cruder sources of information - such as official statistics.

Reality is not always pleasant - but we must face it

And what the official statistics show very clearly is that the rich in this country have never been better off, that income inequality has increased dramatically, and that, in fact, the majority of New Zealanders are on lower real after tax incomes now than they were in 1980!

They also paint a rather bleak picture of the current state of working class organisation and industrial struggle. In the wake of the Employment Contracts Act, which was one of the most significant defeats ever experienced by the union movement in this country, union membership has fallen by more than half.

Strike activity, however it is measured, has been lower in recent years than at any time during the post war era. In 1997, 7,646 workers were involved in strikes (the smallest number since the 1930s), in 1998, 15,205, and in 1999, 10,747. These figures compare to a range of between 51,962 and 16,042 for the years from 1990 to 1996 inclusive.

(Key Statistics, June 2000, p.41)

What these figures show is that there has been downturn in industrial struggle from 1997 to the present (June 2000).

Does this mean that there is no possibility of major fightbacks in the near future?

What marks the current period is the volatility that affects everyone from the ruling class down. On the one side, the political mood of workers, students, Mäori and the oppressed is characterised by a deep level of anger and frustration over the pro business New Right policies of the past 16 years.

At the moment this sense of anger and frustration is being contained by two key influences. First, the widespread demoralisation of workers in those sectors which have become effectively de-unionised since 1991. It is much harder to fight if you no longer have the organisational means of doing so! Second, by the general illusions that are held in reformism - the idea that change can only come through parliament. It is going to take a little while longer for workers, students and the oppressed to appreciate that change will only come if they are prepared to fight for it, regardless of which party holds power in parliament.

On the other side, business has been fighting tooth and nail to hold on to all the major gains that it has received since 1984 - major tax cuts on profits and high incomes, the Employment Contracts Act, the cutting back of ACC, benefit cuts for the poor, and so on.

As socialists, we must defend the current government against these attacks from the right, while simultaneously criticising it from the left.

For example, we support some elements of the Employment Relations Bill: improved right of access to workplaces for union representatives; provision for paid time off for workers to attend union meetings; better provision for collective bargaining; legalising strike action in support of multi employer and multi union agreements.

But we argue that it does not go anywhere near far enough. Indeed, with respect to the right to strike provisions of the ERB it is in some ways even worse than the Employment Contracts Act (by requiring a 40 day negotiation period following the expiration of a collective contract).

During the past decade what socialists call "the balance of class forces" have swung very rapidly from a raised level of struggle to a lower level. Given the overall volatility of the current period - economically, socially and politically - it is likely to shift again towards a revival of working class struggle.

In the short term we have to face facts - working class struggle, at least industrially, has reached a low ebb. But we also have to constantly argue and fight for real change - not just the cosmetic tinkering of the present government.

And that means, above all else, that we need to continue to engage in the "battle of ideas" - we need to show clearly and convincingly what is wrong with the world, why it is this way, how we can change it, what the only realistic alternative is. The Alliance, Greens and Labour have no convincing answers, the International Socialists do.