Posts by Nick Shand
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I presume David was referring to this:
Cool ..... a tasty bit of NZ union and TV history I had not connected with prior to stumbling upon your link
... I'll put it in my pocket.
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Here's some hopefully useful info on NZ unions from an essay I wrote 2 years ago for my World of Work 300 level sociology paper.
The employability ethic and the decline of union density in New Zealand
Please note that I am pro-union and wrote this essay in an effort to understand why they had declined.
“The decline of trade union membership matters because trade unions have the potential to affect output, employment, productivity, investment and the distribution of earnings, for good or ill (Freeman and Medoff, 1984; Metcalf, 2003; Pencavel, 2003; Charwood and Haynes, 2008).”
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Forming a union is relatively easy as it entails establishing an incorporated society through following simple government guidelines accessible online. The minimum number of members required for an incorporated society is fifteen, fifteen people becomes by de facto the smallest union allowable in New Zealand today. Managing union compliance issues are therefore uncomplicated and straightforward after the initial establishment following government guidelines. This can account for some of the near tripling in numbers of 181 unions active in 2003 from the 66 that were active in 1991 in New Zealand. This sharp rise in the overall number active unions also occurred in relation to rapid job diversification of the information age. However the increase in available unions did not prevent an overall 50% drop in union membership.
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The Journal of Industrial Relations published an article in February 2008 titled Union Membership Decline in New Zealand, 1990 – 2002. The article identified New Zealand’s disproportionate decline in union density to other OCED countries but did not specify or speculate from an ideological perspective as to why this occurred. The analysis undertaken by Charwood and Haynes concluded that within-group behaviour changed significantly.
“Most of the decline in density explained in this analysis can be attributed to within-group behavioural change. (Charwood and Hanyes, 2008)”
Yet within-group behaviour refers only to actual the decision of workers not to be a union member and doesn’t inform us why it was that so many made this decision. As the period of 1991 to 2002 co-insides with the ideological shift in the responsibility for employability in New Zealand, it can then be tentatively argued that the two are connected.
In short - As we are responsible for our own employability (i.e. paying for our training), we look after ourselves and do it well ..... if we have sufficient knowledge and competence to do so.
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disproportionately
Boycott leads to union president fronting on national television and feeding us this line "Peter Jackson does not know what we want"
been bothering me all day
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for the truly desperate
ah so there is ... mad King Lear
good thing we don't have any mad kings wand waving here
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oh my goodness ... porn horny hobbits
um I must confess I got more than enough of that imagery from "Bored of the Rings" some years back
"Goblin Girls" for them who have repressed the reference
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I gather an Australian destination may be more likely
Ah Russel but where will Oz get a Lonely Mountain from? Australia's mountains are seriously small and CGI can't compare to our glorious landscape options.
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I have read everything I can source on this issue and I am beginning to get nervous about whether anyone from NZ can actuate a retraction of this boycott by the international unions.
Seems likely the MEAA and SAG will stall on the thinnest premise and it will take a seriously public diplomatic mission from the likes of Gandalf the Gray to release The Hobbit from production limbo.
Furthermore would not moving production to Eastern Europe offer up a far more credible and defensible premise for continuing an actors boycott of The Hobbit.
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I believe we now have a strong mandate from NZ performers to represent their interests with the producers of the Hobbit.
A strong mandate would require much safer democratic processes than what I am tracking via my computer screen.
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Peronally, I think this is coming out of SAG as a matter of policy, under their "runaway productions" concept
Seems to me there are now a lot of reasonable people paying close attention to this drama. The residual effect of this will be a greater understanding of the issues.
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Hey, COOL -- I think I got called a "local film industry baron". Sweeet.
being a film industry baron could have sweet perks if NZ weren't so yokel