Posts by Jan Farr
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I might not be "proud" of his behaviour wrt this, but I can understand that he would be hurt, angry, and spitting tacks.
The way Peter Jackson was targeted? I think Actor's Equity made tactical mistakes (and possibly even strategic ones) - but as someone wrote, that's an industrial issue - not a moral one - and I hope they grow stronger as a result.
With much shrill posturing, that largely drowned out balanced and informed debate, PJ, his friends and the media turned it into a moral campaign, against a tiny union. It's obvious, even from reading this intelligent blog, that some people are trying to broaden that out to the whole union movement.
This position for example, was rarely encountered. (Thanks Giovanni)
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@Russell
I don't say we shouldn't be proud of Sir Peter and his internationally acclaimed movies - I personally am not particularly proud of his recent behaviour. I think I was trying to say that we (led by a pack media) may be going overboard. I also think we should be worried about the quality of jobs that we create in this country - and the effect that getting them may have on the quality of other jobs - maybe take a longer-sighted look at things.
@ Craig
BTW, Jan, planning to tell Elizabeth Knox & Lloyd Jones to dump their "enormous international" publishers and stop writing effete un-Kiwi bullshit about bisexual angels in France and a Dickens-obsessed teacher in war-torn Bougainville?
If you think that, Craig, then probably you should tell them. I think their books are wonderful.
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Queasy? When a prime minister can use an international film company to change labour law under urgency, with no select commitee, no debate or negotiation? I'm outraged. It sounds like the thin end of a wedge to me and it must contravene at least a couple of ILO conventions that we're signed up to. I think it's John (Managing Director of Weta Workshop) Key's first longed-for step in the return to the ECA.
Yes. There's currently a conspiracy theory being shared amongst some of the actors that holds that Warners engineered the whole thing by paying huge money to an (unnamed) PR firm. It really does not pass a reality test.
Well, they hardly needed a conspiracy - they had an enthusiastic media and an uninformed public. A woman I know railed against the teachers union when she heard that someone's child was home from school: 'Bloody Unions! What are they trying to do? Stop The Hobbit?' I thought she reflected the level of analysis in the general media, rather well.
We have more things to be proud of than a movie from a book written by a dead Brit and produced by an enormous international film company - surely! Pet day at Dalesford School beats it for me.
I think Helen Kelly has been the only person whose analysis has been borne out by results.
I'd also like to nominate Sir Peter, Sir Richard and Philippa Boyens for well-deserved Oscars.
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He's a lot like Sacha Baron Cohen in that respect, of.
..except he doesn't have a Cambridge History degree, a Golden globe, acting training, a handful of well crafted characters from which to launch his attacks, or any other real commitment or techniques to publicly distance himself from the persona we see on screen.
He's a lot like Alan Partridge.
As well, Sacha Baron Cohen is often quite amusing.
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I think this is actually going to damage the trade union movement.
With respect, Russell, Capital has no interest in trade unions. Which is to say, it yearns always to get back to the days of sweated labour. It is a highly effective opponent, with friends in high places and a lot more weapons at its disposal than workers have. Of course the NZ trade union movement is damaged - but that didn't start with this dispute. I admire the courage and reslience of the relatively small number of NZ workers who join trade unions and work to make sure this country remains a civilised one with a workforce that can hang onto some dignity.
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Suddenly it doesn't look like ineptitude, but dirty tricks.
Michael - are you just making stuff up here, or do you have some actual evidence to point to?
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It's disappointing that Mune should be commenting when he genuinely doesn't seem to know much about the dispute.
Who isn't at the moment - commenting in the dark, I mean?
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I thought this "third world conditions" thing had been put to bed when Peter Jackson revealed they were being offered around $5000 a week.
Don't let's get too excited. He's not paying them $5000 a week for 52 weeks of the year. And do they residuals? If so, how much?
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Jan, he's talking about Robyn Malcolm, not you. Unless you're more bewildered than you're letting on.
Well he certainly quoted me. But then I should have thought, 'Why would a nice boy like Craig attack a poor bewildered old lady like me?'
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I find it hard to take seriously anyone speaking on behalf of a union in public who is fuzzy on the difference between the now defunct Employment Contracts and Employment Relations Acts. (BTW, the latter is still on the statute books.)
Hi Craig:
a) Please don't try to take me seriously if you find it difficult. I'm quite relaxed either way.
b) I haven't been speaking on behalf of a union. Only about my own experiences. Many of us do that on this blog.
c) Did I say the ECA hadn't been repealed? I thought I said that they're putting it back together again and more. The big differences between the ECA and the ERA were that the ERA recognised unions, unions had slightly easier access to their members and good faith bargaining was brought in (a kind of voluntary honesty box). Now National, in its first term, has made it possible to sack a worker without cause in the first 90 days of employment and is working presently to make union access to workplaces much more difficult - heading right back there, to 1991.