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All out! 1970s/80s strikes seminar
November 15, 2025 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
A seminar to mark and memorise resistance.
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.
Programme
Download the full programme here.
Download a timeline of significant work stoppages 1970s/1980s here.
1pm Welcome and context setting
1.10pm Strikes in the Wellington motor assembly industry panel (John Ryall, Robert Reid and Don Franks)
2.20pm Trades Council strikes, Kinleith pulp and paper mill strike 1980, meat industry strikes (Graeme Clarke, Rod Meharry and Roger Middlemass)
3.30pm Afternoon tea
4.00pm Women and strikes panel – Rixen clothing factory occupation 1981 and pay equity clerical workers’ strike Wellington motor factories 1986 (Ann Waddell and Martha Coleman)
5pm finish
There will be discussion following each panel or speakers.
In person: Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny St, Wellington (near Wellington train station), Mezzanine floor room 3 (RHMZ03). Please note: entrance only from Bunny St, not side entrance beside stairs to train station; the room is upstairs on first floor but there are lifts)
Online: https://vuw.zoom.us/j/95381696050
Please RSVP if attending in person – numbers are limited to 60 – email stout-centre@vuw.ac.nz
See also: ‘Knocking off—Strikes in Aotearoa New Zealand from 1968 to 1986’, JD Stout Lecture 2025, 14 November 2025 from 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm