Socialism in New Zealand had little traction in early colonial New Zealand but developed as a political movement around the beginning of the 20th century. Much of socialism's early growth was found in the labour movement.
The meat-packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally not included. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of by-products including hides, dried blood, protein meals such as meat & bone meal, and, through the process of rendering, fats.
The Waihi miners' strike was a major strike action in 1912 by gold miners in the New Zealand town of Waihi. It is widely regarded as the most significant industrial action in the history of New Zealand's labour movement. It resulted in one striker being killed, one of only two deaths in industrial actions in New Zealand.
The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting against financial hardships and poor working conditions. Thousands more refused to handle "scab" goods. The dispute was sometimes referred to as the waterfront lockout or waterfront strike. It lasted 151 days, from 13 February to 15 July 1951. During the lockout, the Watersiders' Union was deregistered and its funds and records were seized, and 26 local watersiders' unions were set up in its place.
Maryan Street is a New Zealand unionist, academic and former politician. She was president of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1993 to 1995 and a Labour Party list member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2005 until 2014.
Darien Elizabeth Fenton is a New Zealand politician and was a Member of Parliament from 2005 until her retirement in 2014.
AFFCO Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as AFFCO or "Auckland Farmers Freezing Company", is New Zealand's fourth largest meat processor. AFFCO has been in operations since 1904. It has been wholly owned by Talley's Group since 2010 and it is currently one of the few remaining Talley's owned companies to employ unionised workers at their plants. AFFCO has twelve plants in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand.
Unite Union (Unite) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents a number of workers across various industries, and was the sponsor of the Supersizemypay.com campaign directed towards improving working conditions for fast food workers in the country, in addition to representing other hospitality and retail workers. Unite is affiliated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
The Northern Amalgamated Workers' Union (AWUNZ) is a trade union in New Zealand. It is one of three autonomous unions, with the Southern Amalgamated Workers' Union, and the Central Amalgamated Workers' Union, who operate nationally as the Amalgamated Workers' Union.
The Meat Union Aotearoa is a trade union in New Zealand. It was formed August 1, 1994 by the merging of the Auckland & Tomoana Freezing Workers Union and the West and East Coast Branches of the New Zealand Meat & Related Trades Workers Union.
The 2006 Progressive Enterprises dispute was an industrial dispute between New Zealand supermarket company Progressive Enterprises and employees represented by the National Distribution Union and the EPMU. On 25 August 2006, over 500 employees at Progressive's four distribution centres began a 48-hour strike supporting a demand for a national collective agreement involving an eight percent wage increase and pay parity between the four centres. On 26 August 2006 the company locked out the strikers indefinitely, suspending operations at its distribution centres, with suppliers delivering goods directly to the supermarkets and also setting up amateur small scale distribution centres in car parks of Countdown supermarkets. The dispute was resolved on 21 September 2006 when Progressive Enterprises agreed to pay parity and a 4.5% wage increase.
Kenneth George Douglas was a New Zealand trade union leader.
Andrew James Little is a New Zealand lawyer, former politician and former trade union official. He was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2014 to 2017 and a senior minister in the Labour governments led by Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins from 2017 to 2023, including as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Minister of Justice, Minister of Health and Minister of Defence.
Solidarity Union was a short lived trade union in New Zealand and was founded by activists and delegates, including Joe Carolan of Socialist Aotearoa in August 2006. By 2008 the union had ceased meaningful activity. Grant Morgan was a Trustee in 2010, and Leonard Charles Parker and Peter Michael Hughes in 2012.
In New Zealand, agriculture is the largest sector of the tradable economy. The country exported NZ$46.4 billion worth of agricultural products in the 12 months to June 2019, 79.6% of the country's total exported goods. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector directly contributed $12.653 billion of the national GDP in the 12 months to September 2020, and employed 143,000 people, 5.9% of New Zealand's workforce, as of the 2018 census.
Fredrick George Evans was an Australian industrial worker who rose to prominence for his role and death in the Waihi miners' strike. To date he is one of the only two people to die in an industrial dispute in New Zealand's history.
Talley's Group Limited is a privately owned, New Zealand-based agribusiness company that provides seafood, vegetable and dairy products. Talley's was established in 1936 in Motueka by Ivan Peter Talijancich as a manufacturer of seafood, and has since grown into one of the largest agribusiness companies in New Zealand.
Gear Meat Company was a meat processing company with a large works that operated in Petone, New Zealand from 1874 until 1981 and was one of the major employers in Petone.
