If the union itself becomes a top-down problem, then that’s another matter I suppose… but so long as we have decisions being imposed on us from on-high, then we need to organise against them.

My mother laments the fact that it took the unions of her and her parent’s generation decades to fight for and win a 40 hour working week… and now in the space of about 10 years it’s all gone. Trouble is, back in the day, a husband could support a whole family. Now it takes two, and they have to work stupidly long hours (NZ is worse than the US on this I think). I think we need more organisation of labour, not less. “The Market” is literally running people into the ground.

That said, my brother is in the Movie Biz… and is not convinced that the unionisation of the US industry is terribly beneficial – gives people a “can’t do” attitude he reckons… and is partly to do with his appraisal of the whole industry basically being a shredder on top of a toilet, which is on permanent flush… and money is fed in the top.