Panel Three: Ann Waddell and Martha Coleman – Women and strikes panel – Rixen clothing factory occupation 1981 and pay equity clerical workers strike and blockade, Wellington car factories 1986
All Out! Strike Seminar Background Info Sheet
Trade Unions in NZ history poster
Event Notice
A seminar to mark and memorise resistance: 15 November 2025, 1-5pm. Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny St Wellington.
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.