As our union marks our tenth anniversary, former Assistant National Secretary John Ryall shares the idea behind the ‘New Union’ that became E tū.
E tū was formed in 2015 with a vision of hope that is even more relevant ten years later.
The SFWU, EPMU and FARSA were all doing good work separately, but were swimming
upstream against a 30-year tide of neo-liberalism that had led to low union private sector
density, the reduction in worker rights, the steady decline of large manufacturing
enterprises and the contracting and sub-contracting of work in the service sector.
The three unions had a vision of a larger union that could revitalise their existing union-
specific organising work by spreading leadership as broadly as possible, re-emphasising the
role of members to take responsibility for making the union strong, developing volunteer
organisers/educators, placing greater priority on the development of self-sustaining
workplace organisation, highlighting stories of members doing it for themselves and the role
of organisers to identify and develop delegates and activists rather than to solve every
problem that is raised by individual members.
While stronger workplace organisation was a key goal for the three unions (especially where
the respective unions shared site membership) their priority was to realise the size and scale
needed to take on national campaigns that would provide an impetus for the whole of the
New Zealand union movement.
During the process of the amalgamation negotiations the Living Wage Campaign had been
launched and was gathering steam. The pay equity wins in the courts were also opening up
a wider opportunity for the transformation of work and pay in the growing care and support
sector. These campaigns could not be successfully pursued without resources.
The vision and the details of the New Union were presented in a document New Union
Report that was distributed to members prior to the amalgamation vote in 2015. The title
New Union was used until after the amalgamation vote. The title was deliberate. It was to
be a new union not just a cobbling together of the three existing unions. A separate process
had been underway to look at options for the name, which had to be agreed by the National
Executives of the unions and was announced at the new union launch in October 2015.
‘E tū’ was chosen as the name because it represented our call. We would boldly stand up
together to demand liveable wages from those who wanted to keep us poor and in our
place. We would stand up together for social justice and to build a better Aotearoa in the
interests of the many not the few. And with our Māori name we would stand up alongside
tangata whenua to shake off nearly 200 years of colonial history and build a strong just
South Pacific nation.
I congratulate those leaders (and there were many) from the three unions who had the
courage and foresight to form E tū. The problems of 10 years ago have not gone away. With
the current government they have become worse. As we celebrate our tenth anniversary
we need to remember our founding vision and carry out the work necessary to achieve it.