Auckland jobless in ‘angry’ march

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 3

Auckland jobless in ‘angry’ march

PA Auckland About 500 unemployed i marched up Queen Street, Auckland, yesterday, in what a union leader said could be the forerunner of a series of “unemployment marches.” The march was organised by the Auckland District Trades Council to draw attention to the plight of the unemployed and to proposed changes in the temporary employment programme. In Aotea Square, in central Auckland, where the marchers finally gathered, the president of the Trades Council, Mr G. H. Andersen, predicted more and bigger marches.

Referring to the mood of the march as “one of the angriest he had seen,’’ Mr Andersen called for and won support for more marches. He said that in three weeks it was hoped that 40,000 to 50,000 people would take part in a protest march organised by the Federation of Labour in Auckland. Two Labour members of Parliament, Messrs F. M. Gerbic and R. W. Prebble, were also in the square to meet the marchers. Mr Prebble said that under proposed changes to the T.E.P. scheme, 200 workers would lose their jobs, which he described as “the largest mass sacking in New Zealand’s history.” However, Mr Prebble said, the Labour Party was opposed to the T.E.P. scheme: “We believe people should be given permanent jobs . . . there is a ton of work to be done in New Zealand,” he said.

Auckland’s Mayor, (Sir Dove-Myer Robinson), called for the establishment of new industries to absorb labour. He said there should be work for everybody who wanted to work.

The march was a peaceful one, although in an incident in the square one young man was arrested for obscene language. For a moment, tension rose as Mr Andersen, who was speaking at the time, refused to intercede in spite of the remonstrations of one of the marchers. He left the matter to march marshals, and the police led the arrested man away. ’