SoSaturnistic has made his way to David Lange Park in Māngere, South Auckland. This event is largely held with Labour party volunteers, wearing the red #Labour4NZ shirts developed for this general election campaign. Also in attendance are a number of members and representatives from the Labour Party’s affiliated unions, familiar with an event conducted by boomfa_ in the last election.

Hello Māngere, great to see you out today! Tēnā koutou katoa. Being from Auckland it’s a real pleasure to be back here today, at one of the core heartlands of our nation’s people-powered labour movement no less. Māngere has long been one of the strongest bases of Labour Party support, even in recent years. It’s a place that has special salience to those who fight for equality, who fight for the dispossessed, and for those who seek social justice in society.

David Lange Park is where we’re at. And David Lange Park is named as such because Māngere elected Mr David Lange to be Prime Minister, being an individual who opposed the racism of the day and offered legal counsel to those who dared stand up to the National Government’s attacks on Pacific communities. Lange’s Government is remembered for many things, but one of the strongest legacies he ought to be remembered for is advancing the cause of workers and unionists.

While Rogernomics understandably takes a lot of attention, the fact of the matter is that the Fourth Labour Government ushered in a number of advancements to the rights of workers. While many of these came under attack and were systematically dismantled by the following National Government, many we continue to benefit from. And this hardly gets into the other reforms that helped out workers, from protecting civil rights under the Bill of Rights Act to taking action on the blight of pollution which was killing many in working class communities across the country.

Labour today wants to live up to that legacy. That’s why we are seeking to expand and enhance the rights of workers in a more recent context. Where Mr Lange’s reforms were undermined by Bolger’s Employment Contracts Act, FinePorpoise’s neoliberal reforms have left worker’s rights gutted. While the past Labour-Green coalition Governments have helped restore and enhance common-sense protections for working people, such as expanded sick leave, having an adjustable minimum wage, and others, we need to go further to ensure that workers are at no detriment compared to the situation prior to the last National Government.

That’s why Labour is going to ensure that National’s labour reforms are fully undone and in doing so we will once again establish a legal presumption that collective agreements are binding on all newly hired employees. No longer will bad employers be able to undermine their recognised trade unions by hiring new employees who will be able to undercut the collective agreements that unionists work together to deliver. This single change will conclusively end one of the most crippling legal situations which has befallen our nation’s labour movement for far too long.

That’s not all of course, we will protect worker’s compensation, protect your superannuation, and establish a single minimum wage to prevent workers from being undercut. These sensible reforms, combined with Labour’s common-sense plans for public finance and investment will ensure that we can live in a society where basic dignity is guaranteed to all and where one is able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Simply put: when Labour wins, the worker wins.

While Labour is pledging to make positive reforms to rejuvenate our movement, there are dark clouds on the horizon. Some of you may have missed it among their 81 pages of fluff, but their manifesto includes a guarantee to remove the right of the Crown to negotiate pay agreements with trade unions representing our vital public service workers. This means that there will be no effective way to arbitrate as without preferential pay the union will naturally be cast aside and undermined by the Crown hiring non-unionised employees. Without the right to secure better and conditions for members, we all know that Winston’s National Party is trying to dismantle the institutions that ensure our essential workers can enjoy the pay and conditions they deserve.

With such a risk to the rights of workers looming and with the tabling of Labour’s positive proposals for reform it is quite clear that the country is going to be at a turning point in this election. I hope that those of you in attendance will be willing to stand up for workers and for a more just economy by helping us deliver a new Labour-led Government after 11 July, either by helping campaign for the party list or by helping out my dear friend u/Polteaghost in this electorate. Just as those like Mr Lange fought for rights from Māngere it is vital that we can work together to secure a better future for the generations ahead. Thank you all.