tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post3814785826036098324..comments2024-03-29T00:44:42.046+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Remembering 1951Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-31246072065496178992009-03-05T18:27:00.000+13:002009-03-05T18:27:00.000+13:00Anon,As long as there are people who desire to hav...Anon,<BR/><BR/>As long as there are people who desire to have part of society imporverished or in severe hardship so so another part can be enriched, there will always need to be a class struggle.<BR/><BR/>It is because of the 'class of 51', the 'class of 1913' and even the 'class of 1908' that you can enjoy your high paid 9 to 5 job with the hour long lunch break.<BR/><BR/>And now, the battles they fought and won, are going to have to be fought and won once more, .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-26594063079609013162009-03-03T14:48:00.000+13:002009-03-03T14:48:00.000+13:00Irish Bill’s superfluous original post was disresp...Irish Bill’s superfluous original post was disrespectful to boot. The ’51 lockout is certainly an ongoing source of good material for analysis precisely because of the character of those directly involved and the underlying politics. What drama –state forces, collaborationist politicians and unions, militant workers, staunch unions, underground resistance–as Dean Parker, Renee, Rudy Sunde, Dick Scott and others have revealed. <BR/><BR/>One wonders what might constitute a defining event for todays bloggers that casually dismiss the likes of Johnny Mitchell, Ron Black, Jock Barnes, Jim Knox, Ernie Delaney, Bill Andersen etc. A good long read of the “Hollow Men” perhaps? Or perhaps an avatar blackout–that really showed ’em! It is a rare event that is seriously discussed 50 years on.<BR/><BR/>A loyalty card from ’51 was a passport to all sorts of useful things, the banned watersiders scattered far and wide and assisted other NZ unions to look beyond the award system. The “wagon men” (often scabs not soldiers, under cover of army vehicles) were not forgotten either when they popped up at work sites. The legacy of this dispute runs deep. I recall at Jim Knox funeral (Jim being ex FOL President and a ’51 veteran), Jock Barnes delivered a thunderous attack on KG Douglas from the CTU (Douglas was present) to the horror and embarrassment of many at the gathering. In retrospect Jock was right, the failure to at least attempt a general strike when thousands were marching daily already, of even a limited duration, was a tactical blunder of the major variety with serious consequences lingering today.<BR/><BR/>I have posted before here as to the true nature of this “blunder”.<BR/><BR/>As for anonymous’s “outdated and useless class war” –hello, dispatches tell me it is still going on out there in 90 day fire at will land.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-89272748517045082302009-03-01T17:17:00.000+13:002009-03-01T17:17:00.000+13:00...as long as you're willing to fight, you can nev......as long as you're willing to fight, you can never truly lose."<BR/><BR/>Nice prose Chris, but it reeks of outdated and useless class war sentiment.<BR/><BR/>May I paraphrase ? "...as long as you keep fighting the class war, you can never really win."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com