MJM
29th April 2002, 09:50
From:
http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/wpnz/ap25-0...20democracy.htm (http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/wpnz/ap25-02social%20democracy.htm)
The demise of social democracy
With Labour as tory as National, and Alliance split into two, is this the end of social democracy in New Zealand?
Daphna Whitmore, General Secretary, WPNZ
The Spark 25 April 2002
With the split in the Alliance party now official the last vestige of a social democratic party seems set to disappear or shrink to insignificance. In fact, it is many years since there was a sizeable social democratic party in New Zealand. The Labour Party might still call itself social democratic, but long ago it stopped being even a phoney workers’ party a fact that became patently obvious in the 1980s when it was in government.
The infamous fourth Labour Government of the 1980s was a huge swing to the right, openly wooing big business while attacking workers’ rights and conditions. Selling off state assets for a song to New Zealand and foreign corporations Labour in this period gave up all pretence of representing workers’ interests. In fact, the Labour Party had never been anything more than reformist. With policies so close to the tory National Party it was hardly surprising that the former National Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, called for the two parties to come together in a grand coalition before the last elections.
The New Zealand Labour Party, was formed back in 1916, modelling itself on the European social democratic parties, but it never had the Marxist background that they once had. The Labour Party’s founding constitution stated the objective of socialising ‘the means of production, distribution and exchange’; but by claiming that workers could transform capitalism into socialism through parliamentary reforms they showed that they were not a party of revolution, serious about socialism, but a reformist party of capitalism.
And that was as far left as Labour ever went. From the very outset it sought parliamentary seats as its main aim, not the organising and leading of the working class to seize power. Some people claim that the first Labour Government was a workers’ government, but this does not stand up to much scrutiny. Coming into office at the end of the Great Depression it introduced reforms such as increased pensions, an invalid’s benefit, revoked the wage cuts of the public service, began a school building programme, re-introduced the arbitration system and legislated for a 40-hour week. But many such reforms had been introduced at an earlier time before the Labour Government, such as pensions, the arbitration system, female suffrage and a government housing loan scheme. Not all the reforms advantaged the workers, either. The re-introduction of the arbitration system, which the earlier Labour Party leader Harry Holland had rightly called the leg-iron of labour, actually served the interests of the employers. Rather than wage class struggles the workers were to rely on the ‘fairness’ of the Arbitration Court. Not surprisingly most of the time the Arbitration Court ruled in the employer’s favour.
Despite the 1935 Labour Government’s reputation as a radical party it nationalised very little and all the main means of production remained privately owned. Most of the state assets which were later sold off in the 1980s and 1990s were partly state-owned before 1935 (eg the Post Office, Electricorp, Railways) or were built up as state assets in later years, such as NZ Steel and Petrocorp.
By 1947 Labour had abandoned its socialisation clause and barely attempted to keep up its front of being a workers’ party. Coupled with the pro-capitalist policies at home, Labour pursued a pro-imperialist policy in its foreign affairs. It openly supported British imperialism, then hitched up with US imperialism when it became the dominant power after World War 2.
It proved to be as imperialist as any National government, sending troops to crush the national liberation struggle in Malaya in 1949 and since then New Zealand has kept a battalion in South East Asia for that purpose. Throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars the Labour Party’s policy remained thoroughly pro-imperialist. While individual members of the party opposed these wars the official party apparatus stood firmly beside US imperialism.
When it came to union struggles Labour showed many times it was no friend of the workers. In 1949 the Carpenters’ Union, whose members were on a go-slow, were deregistered by the Labour Government and a scab union set up. During the big class struggle of 1951 in which the employers set out to smash the militant Waterside Workers’ Union, the Labour Party (no longer the government) did not give support to the locked out watersiders, and muttered only a few words of protest about the draconian emergency regulations which were imposed.
When it came to workers’ rights to take industrial action Labour was not slow to introduce anti-worker laws. In fact the Labour Government, led by Norm Kirk in 1975 virtually pioneered the use of huge injunctions in industrial disputes, issuing an injunction against the Drivers’ Union. Later, in government in 1984-1990, Labour enshrined injunctions as a powerful repressive tool for the employers in the Labour Relations Act, a forerunner to the hated Employment Contracts Act. There is not the space here to deal in detail with all the anti-worker measures of the fourth Labour Government, but a few that standout are the imposition of a Goods and Services Tax, first at 10 per cent then raising it to 12.5 per cent, the closing of 23 hospitals and the sale of all the main state owned assets.
With the open betrayal of the working class by the Labour Government in the 1980s many workers became permanently disillusioned with Labour. Whereas many had automatically and unthinkingly voted Labour before, some swore they would never again. Thousands of workers left the party, and its membership dropped to below 10,000. The membership and the leadership of the party more and more reflected its tory nature. Today only 3 per cent of the workforce belong to unions which are affiliated to the Labour Party. The past three presidents of the Labour Party have all been businessmen: Michael Hirschfeld—a millioniare; Bob Harvey, business man and mayor of Watakere City in West Auckland; and the present president is Mike Williams who boasts close ties with the corporates. Big corporations give huge financial donations equally to Labour, National and Act. (See panel on next page).
In 1989 a disgruntled section of the Labour Party membership left, under the leadership of Jim Anderton and formed New Labour. Rather than patiently work to build up working class support Anderton, in the fashion of the old Labour Party, was desperate to get parliamentary seats – nothing else really mattered. With this goal Anderton cobbled together an alliance of Democrats, Liberals, Greens and Mana Motuhake. The Alliance was not a workers’ party just as Labour had never been, but it did gather some support among workers and in the early 1990s challenged Labour for second place in a couple of by-elections.
For people who put their faith in a Labour-Alliance government and imagined they would transform the anti-worker political system into a pro-worker system the Workers’ Party of New Zealand urged them deserved no support from the workers, we said, and it has been thoroughly treacherous and continues to be so. We did, however, say that if the left elements of workers still saw Alliance as a left alternative then once in office it would become apparent that Alliance is little different from the other parliamentary parties. On that basis alone we gave it some support (The Spark October 1999). In office it has certainly behaved just like the other capitalist parties. This became glaringly obvious around the invasion of Afghanistan, when all the Alliance MPs voted for New Zealand troops to be sent to take part in the US-led war. Later some Alliance MPs expressed private reservations, but really they would have been happy to support a United Nations-led invasion – as if this would change the unjust character of the war. Their refusal to openly oppose the invasion of Afghanistan showed that they are unprincipled and thoroughly opportunist politicians interested in keeping their Cabinet posts and parliamentary positions.
This election there is no basis for the WPNZ to give even limited support to Alliance. It has, as we predicted, shown its hand as a party of capitalism in government. Its support has collapsed and there is an alternative for people who are turning left – that is the Anti-Capitalist Alliance (ACA).The ACA is an electoral campaign which has been established by two left-wing groups – Revolution and the Workers’ Party of New Zealand. The details of the campaign are on page 6.
We recognise that despite the phoney democracy of parliament many workers in New Zealand still have some faith in the system. Enrolment on the electoral register is still high at around 90 per cent, and turnout on voting day last elections was over 70 per cent. While many people sense the system is not right they have not grown completely disillusioned with it. For that reason we take part in elections, not to peddle any false hope, quite the opposite. The WPNZ takes part in order to make the most of the opportunities available at election time to speak to the workers and progressives about the very nature of the system, and why parliament is just a talkshop and a facade which serves to conceal the dictatorship of big business.
Gathering support for our electoral campaign is also a means of rallying workers to take a stand in their own interests at election time rather than lining up behind a capitalist party.
The whole history of social democracy has been one of betrayal of the working class. Today it has little support among the workers and is of limited use to the capitalist class. While reformism can take many forms and will continue to dupe workers who have not yet seen the necessity of revolutionary change, the dominant role played by old-style social democracy in many western countries seems to be drawing to a close. In Britain, France and Germany, parties still calling themselves social democrat have been well and truly transformed into neo-liberal and middle class parties. The New Zealand Labour Party not only is not ‘labour’ in any sense of the word, it has outgrown its social democratic past, long, long ago.
People who are fed up with the lies and deception of the capitalist parties and want to fight for real change should join the Anti-Capitalist Alliance; there’s plenty to speak out about and much that needs to be changed. All the parliamentary parties have shown that they are agents of capitalism and are there to reinforce the system. We want to see it replaced with socialism. A big task but the only real alternative.
http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/wpnz/ap25-0...20democracy.htm (http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/wpnz/ap25-02social%20democracy.htm)
The demise of social democracy
With Labour as tory as National, and Alliance split into two, is this the end of social democracy in New Zealand?
Daphna Whitmore, General Secretary, WPNZ
The Spark 25 April 2002
With the split in the Alliance party now official the last vestige of a social democratic party seems set to disappear or shrink to insignificance. In fact, it is many years since there was a sizeable social democratic party in New Zealand. The Labour Party might still call itself social democratic, but long ago it stopped being even a phoney workers’ party a fact that became patently obvious in the 1980s when it was in government.
The infamous fourth Labour Government of the 1980s was a huge swing to the right, openly wooing big business while attacking workers’ rights and conditions. Selling off state assets for a song to New Zealand and foreign corporations Labour in this period gave up all pretence of representing workers’ interests. In fact, the Labour Party had never been anything more than reformist. With policies so close to the tory National Party it was hardly surprising that the former National Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, called for the two parties to come together in a grand coalition before the last elections.
The New Zealand Labour Party, was formed back in 1916, modelling itself on the European social democratic parties, but it never had the Marxist background that they once had. The Labour Party’s founding constitution stated the objective of socialising ‘the means of production, distribution and exchange’; but by claiming that workers could transform capitalism into socialism through parliamentary reforms they showed that they were not a party of revolution, serious about socialism, but a reformist party of capitalism.
And that was as far left as Labour ever went. From the very outset it sought parliamentary seats as its main aim, not the organising and leading of the working class to seize power. Some people claim that the first Labour Government was a workers’ government, but this does not stand up to much scrutiny. Coming into office at the end of the Great Depression it introduced reforms such as increased pensions, an invalid’s benefit, revoked the wage cuts of the public service, began a school building programme, re-introduced the arbitration system and legislated for a 40-hour week. But many such reforms had been introduced at an earlier time before the Labour Government, such as pensions, the arbitration system, female suffrage and a government housing loan scheme. Not all the reforms advantaged the workers, either. The re-introduction of the arbitration system, which the earlier Labour Party leader Harry Holland had rightly called the leg-iron of labour, actually served the interests of the employers. Rather than wage class struggles the workers were to rely on the ‘fairness’ of the Arbitration Court. Not surprisingly most of the time the Arbitration Court ruled in the employer’s favour.
Despite the 1935 Labour Government’s reputation as a radical party it nationalised very little and all the main means of production remained privately owned. Most of the state assets which were later sold off in the 1980s and 1990s were partly state-owned before 1935 (eg the Post Office, Electricorp, Railways) or were built up as state assets in later years, such as NZ Steel and Petrocorp.
By 1947 Labour had abandoned its socialisation clause and barely attempted to keep up its front of being a workers’ party. Coupled with the pro-capitalist policies at home, Labour pursued a pro-imperialist policy in its foreign affairs. It openly supported British imperialism, then hitched up with US imperialism when it became the dominant power after World War 2.
It proved to be as imperialist as any National government, sending troops to crush the national liberation struggle in Malaya in 1949 and since then New Zealand has kept a battalion in South East Asia for that purpose. Throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars the Labour Party’s policy remained thoroughly pro-imperialist. While individual members of the party opposed these wars the official party apparatus stood firmly beside US imperialism.
When it came to union struggles Labour showed many times it was no friend of the workers. In 1949 the Carpenters’ Union, whose members were on a go-slow, were deregistered by the Labour Government and a scab union set up. During the big class struggle of 1951 in which the employers set out to smash the militant Waterside Workers’ Union, the Labour Party (no longer the government) did not give support to the locked out watersiders, and muttered only a few words of protest about the draconian emergency regulations which were imposed.
When it came to workers’ rights to take industrial action Labour was not slow to introduce anti-worker laws. In fact the Labour Government, led by Norm Kirk in 1975 virtually pioneered the use of huge injunctions in industrial disputes, issuing an injunction against the Drivers’ Union. Later, in government in 1984-1990, Labour enshrined injunctions as a powerful repressive tool for the employers in the Labour Relations Act, a forerunner to the hated Employment Contracts Act. There is not the space here to deal in detail with all the anti-worker measures of the fourth Labour Government, but a few that standout are the imposition of a Goods and Services Tax, first at 10 per cent then raising it to 12.5 per cent, the closing of 23 hospitals and the sale of all the main state owned assets.
With the open betrayal of the working class by the Labour Government in the 1980s many workers became permanently disillusioned with Labour. Whereas many had automatically and unthinkingly voted Labour before, some swore they would never again. Thousands of workers left the party, and its membership dropped to below 10,000. The membership and the leadership of the party more and more reflected its tory nature. Today only 3 per cent of the workforce belong to unions which are affiliated to the Labour Party. The past three presidents of the Labour Party have all been businessmen: Michael Hirschfeld—a millioniare; Bob Harvey, business man and mayor of Watakere City in West Auckland; and the present president is Mike Williams who boasts close ties with the corporates. Big corporations give huge financial donations equally to Labour, National and Act. (See panel on next page).
In 1989 a disgruntled section of the Labour Party membership left, under the leadership of Jim Anderton and formed New Labour. Rather than patiently work to build up working class support Anderton, in the fashion of the old Labour Party, was desperate to get parliamentary seats – nothing else really mattered. With this goal Anderton cobbled together an alliance of Democrats, Liberals, Greens and Mana Motuhake. The Alliance was not a workers’ party just as Labour had never been, but it did gather some support among workers and in the early 1990s challenged Labour for second place in a couple of by-elections.
For people who put their faith in a Labour-Alliance government and imagined they would transform the anti-worker political system into a pro-worker system the Workers’ Party of New Zealand urged them deserved no support from the workers, we said, and it has been thoroughly treacherous and continues to be so. We did, however, say that if the left elements of workers still saw Alliance as a left alternative then once in office it would become apparent that Alliance is little different from the other parliamentary parties. On that basis alone we gave it some support (The Spark October 1999). In office it has certainly behaved just like the other capitalist parties. This became glaringly obvious around the invasion of Afghanistan, when all the Alliance MPs voted for New Zealand troops to be sent to take part in the US-led war. Later some Alliance MPs expressed private reservations, but really they would have been happy to support a United Nations-led invasion – as if this would change the unjust character of the war. Their refusal to openly oppose the invasion of Afghanistan showed that they are unprincipled and thoroughly opportunist politicians interested in keeping their Cabinet posts and parliamentary positions.
This election there is no basis for the WPNZ to give even limited support to Alliance. It has, as we predicted, shown its hand as a party of capitalism in government. Its support has collapsed and there is an alternative for people who are turning left – that is the Anti-Capitalist Alliance (ACA).The ACA is an electoral campaign which has been established by two left-wing groups – Revolution and the Workers’ Party of New Zealand. The details of the campaign are on page 6.
We recognise that despite the phoney democracy of parliament many workers in New Zealand still have some faith in the system. Enrolment on the electoral register is still high at around 90 per cent, and turnout on voting day last elections was over 70 per cent. While many people sense the system is not right they have not grown completely disillusioned with it. For that reason we take part in elections, not to peddle any false hope, quite the opposite. The WPNZ takes part in order to make the most of the opportunities available at election time to speak to the workers and progressives about the very nature of the system, and why parliament is just a talkshop and a facade which serves to conceal the dictatorship of big business.
Gathering support for our electoral campaign is also a means of rallying workers to take a stand in their own interests at election time rather than lining up behind a capitalist party.
The whole history of social democracy has been one of betrayal of the working class. Today it has little support among the workers and is of limited use to the capitalist class. While reformism can take many forms and will continue to dupe workers who have not yet seen the necessity of revolutionary change, the dominant role played by old-style social democracy in many western countries seems to be drawing to a close. In Britain, France and Germany, parties still calling themselves social democrat have been well and truly transformed into neo-liberal and middle class parties. The New Zealand Labour Party not only is not ‘labour’ in any sense of the word, it has outgrown its social democratic past, long, long ago.
People who are fed up with the lies and deception of the capitalist parties and want to fight for real change should join the Anti-Capitalist Alliance; there’s plenty to speak out about and much that needs to be changed. All the parliamentary parties have shown that they are agents of capitalism and are there to reinforce the system. We want to see it replaced with socialism. A big task but the only real alternative.