Little confirmed as President
February 27th, 2009 at 7:47 am by David FarrarThe Herald reports Andrew Little is the only candidate for Labour Party President.
I think it is safe to assume that Labour will now run a smarter campaign in 2011, than in 2008 – and that Andrew will never be found in Melbourne trying to dig up dirt personally on John Key.
Andrew is remaining EPMU national secretary. If the EFA had not been abolished, it would have been interesting to see a third party headed up by a political party’s president. Almost worth a court case 
Andrew will also have a sensitive juggling act. As Labour’s president he wants the Government to fail at things like oh the jobs summit. However as EPMU national secretary he wants the jobs summit to actually produce some good outcomes, that will help his members. Potential conflicts between the two jobs will no doubt be scrutinised. Of course, many people have conflicts between different roles – Andrew is not unique there. It is how you manage them.
I won’t be surprised if Andrew makes it into Parliament before the 2011 election, if there is a by-election in a Wellington seat.
Related posts:
- Little confirmed as President
- Little for President then Parliament
- Labour Party President adds to the muck raking
- A part-time candidate
February 27th, 2009 at 8:04 am
“Andrew is remaining EPMU national secretary. If the EFA had not been abolished, it would have been interesting to see a third party headed up by a political party’s president. Almost worth a court case”
Well – after National engages in its cross-party discussions and gets public input, maybe it’ll re-enact the provisions! You may yet have your day in the sun, DPF!! ;->
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:07 am
There will be a number of righties that will see Andrew Little’s selection as president as proof of the Labour Party lurching to the left or now being under the direct control of the union movement. A more sophisticated analysis will show something quite different. As David says above, the Labour Party will merely be “smarter” now. Little is no firebrand radical. He actually represents the very conservative strand of the NZ union movement.
Within the left and the union movement in New Zealand, the EPMU is generally seen as a right-wing union. The EPMU has been deeply hostile to any forces to the left of Labour unless they are accommodating of Labour’s rule and dominance. (See for example, the EPMU/Labour blog The Standard, which is phobic towards any non-compliant force to the left of Labour).
As another example, in 2002 the EPMU stood its organizer, Lynn Pillay against Alliance leader Laila Harre in the seat of Waitakere (despite the fact hat Pillay was high on the Labout Party list anyway). This was despite the fact that Harre had actually been one of the most supportive ministers for the EPMU members, and was the only party leader to come out strongly in support of policies such as four weeks’ annual leave. The EPMU went out of its way to get Harre (and thus the Alliance) out of Parliament. Pillay, the partner of the EPMU’s Auckland regional secretary, Mike Sweeney, was well funded, but the plug was pulled on funds for the Alliance. Andrew Little stated at the time: ‘We’re obviously not going to encourage one of our own officials to stand and then give money to Laila’s campaign as well’.
An ex-student politician (with degrees in law, public policy and philosophy), Little became ‘the first professional, non-trades person’ to head the EPMU when he took over the leadership from Rex Jones in 2000. He had previously been a lawyer for the union since 1992, quickly working his way to the top. Little is obviously an astute and ambitious modern unionist. But he’s not your typical working-class lefty.
There was a good article last year in the Listener about the Labour-union relationship. Little featured quite a bit in the story. He says that his union members ‘don’t want to be told how to vote’. Instead he stresses the distance between Labour and the EPMU, saying that ‘We are affiliated to the party, but we are independent and we have an independent stance.’ Furthermore, like Labour, the EPMU is also increasingly aligned with and working with business: the ‘EPMU was involved in setting up the NZ Manufacturers and Exporters Association’
Bryce
Vote:http://www.liberation.org.nz
February 27th, 2009 at 8:14 am
As Labour’s president he wants the Government to fail at things like oh the jobs summit.
So you’re implying that the head of the largest union in the country wants unemployment to rise for cheap political points? Do you have any evidence of this smear? Or is it just a reflection of the way you see the world?
[DPF: As head of the union he does not. As head of the Labour Party he does. That is the point I am making.]
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:17 am
very apt. ‘Little’ will be Labours new theme, – president, leader, poll results, policy……
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Labour and the EPMU are not conected!
Bull-fucking-shit!
His election is simply an continuation of the fundamentally dishonest nature in the way the current labour party does business and untill labour has an internal purge they’re going to need New Zealanders to be both stupid and have short memories if they want to get back in.
So they do have a pretty good shot.
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Patrick Starr
…. hope …
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:38 am
The big problem unions have of course is that due to the manipulation of the membership by politically partisan zealots like Mr. Little, they’re wedded to left wing political ideology.
There is no rational reason for it to be this way, and there is no real case for right wing free enterprise ideology to be a negative for workers.
As long as unions remain in the grip of people like Mr. Little they will only ever be a branch of the Labour party, and be crippled therefore in any quest to improve the lot of the worker by a class obsessed mentality that is a century out of date.
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:45 am
If/when he gets into the House it wont be long before he leads the parliamentary Labour party.
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Then he’ll want to try and run our country like a militant union. Dedicated to the destruction of business. Oh.happy.day?
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I’m in agreement with Redbaiter on this.
People like Little do not advance the workers’ cause because they are particularly interested in them, but as mean to progress their own social and political agenda. Little is no different to the other left-wing and socialist Labour stooges that preceded him.
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Shows how much a lie it was when the Labourites were insisting that the Unions and the Labour Party were independent of each other.
Why do the Lefties have to lie so much?
Everyone lies, but the Left seems to do it as standard operating procedure.
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Andrew’s the best possible man for the job. Simple. Anyone who’s met him or dealt with him would know his ability. His politics might not be the same as most here but he’s anything but doctinare; he’s pragmatic and reasonable. I think Bryce’s summary is pretty reasonable (though I know nothing of union politics).
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
“Andrew’s the best possible man for the job.”
Thanks for that opinion. Given that most of the time you’re a left wing drongo who never gets anything right, do you think readers should take it with more than a grain of salt?
Vote:February 27th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Oh Red, I so crave your validation this hurts. I take it you’ve not had anything to do with Andrew?
I’m guessing you rarely leave your hole and that when you do you surround yourself with like-minded folk who tolerate your social inadequacies (SOLO a big group?). I’ve said it before, but get some sun Red, it’ll slow your clearly accelerating mental atrophy.
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