Skip to content

All Out! 1970s/1980s Strike Seminar

    A seminar to mark and memorise resistance: 15 November 2025, 1-5pm. Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny St Wellington.

    All Out! 1970s/1980s Strikes Seminar advertising poster. Illustrated by a black and white photo of Lyttelton tunnel workers' redundancy picket - a row of men blocking a road.  The logos of Stout Research Centre, Te Herenga Waka and Labour History Project are included

    Hundreds of thousands of people in the 1970s and 1980s in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in strikes. Yet these strikes have mostly been overlooked. Many went on strike so they could keep up with the rising cost of living and to gain dignity and respect from employers. Strikes broke national wage freezes and won many working conditions that are taken for granted today such as sick leave and redundancy payments. Yet many politicians and employers thought strikes caused inflation, unemployment, and national economic decline. And for many strikes were selfish, disruptive, and self-destructive.

    Come and hear talks from those involved in strikes to learn lessons from the last big period of labour unrest in Aotearoa New Zealand history and to discuss whether strikes are still relevant today.

    It will also be online via Zoom.

    15 November 2025, 1-5pm. Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny St Wellington.Afternoon tea will be provided—entry by koha at the door.

    To RSVP (numbers are limited) and for further information, please contact stout-centre@vuw.ac.nz.