Labour Government in New Zealand (1949)

From the May 1949 issue of the Socialist Standard

"The case for an all round wage increase is unanswerable. During the war years much was said of the golden age for workers that would ensue with the defeat of Fascism and the birth of the "New Order." This "New Order" has faded as the morning mist before a summer sun. The workers’ primary and immediate need is for a substantial wage increase. Union advocates can present cases but in the final analysis results are obtained only by the strength of the rank and file. The quality of that strength will determine the success of the wage struggle." 

                                                                   "Jock" Barnes,

National President of the
 New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union. 

(Quoted in "Caught in the Act," a pamphlet issued by the National Executive of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Union, November, 1948.)