Victor Billets criticism are for the most part spot on (but also common knowledge to most savvy workers).

However it is noteworthy that Alliance Party's, Dunedin North candidate for parliament is most often seen on this site posting press releases that end with implicit calls for a VOTE to the Alliance.

One would have thought that a union organiser from the maritime union would have at least a few thoughts about what workers and unionists could do in the current (and likley continuing) absence of a "workers government".
Especially since most workers are also heartily wary of all political parties and parliament generally.

Instead we are left with having to listen to the interminable debate about workers organising outside the unions as a supposed antidote to this apparent union inactivity and bureacracy.

Boooooring!

The majority of politically conscious workers ARE in unions and abstract calls for them to "break" from these organisations on the basis of their poor leadership is just a "left wing" version of the right wing slander that ALL unions are just organisations to put workers money in officials pockets.
The outcome (demoralisation, depoliticisation and deunionisation) are just thre same.
(witness the attempts of the transport unions-breakeaway during the auckaland busses disputes)

For those interested in actually building workers capacity to force concessions from the system by their own actions, the question of rebuilding the union organisation is a crucial one.

Victor, what is the Alliance position on organising in unions to rekindle workers participation democracy and militancy? What practical steps is the alliance taking to organise its working members to confront bureacracy and inactivity in workers industrial organisations TODAY, rather than in some post election Alliance/balance of power utopia.

Actions not promises

Cheers,
IWD