Burma Democracy Movement by Gary Parsloe
May Day rally gets underway in Albert Park, Auckland
Auckland May Day The Auckland May Day Committee met earlier in the year and agreed that in 2005 we should hold a May Day Function on the night before May Day, then as usual have the March up Queen Street to Albert Park. The Function was held in the New Orient Restaurant, Strand Arcade, Queen Street, Auckland on Saturday 30 April 2005. As Chairman of the May Day Committee I opened the Function by welcoming all the Delegates, Union Officials, Members of Parliament and friends of the Trade Union Movement. I introduced and thanked the Union Made Choir who along with other musicians provided excellent music and entertainment all night. Laila Harre then introduced the presentations from Unions on Campaigns of the last year, current and future years. There were presentations from New Zealand Nurses Organization on their Multi Employer Collective Agreement, the EPMU on their 5% Campaign, the NDU on current Campaigns, UNITE on young cinema workers and other Unions on their campaigns. The Maritime Union presentation was given by Patrick Honan, a cook on the Golden Bay Cement Vessel and Auckland Seafarers Branch Executive Delegate. Patrick’s presentation was about the benefits of being Union and all the benefits that the Union delivers. Patrick’s presentation was well received and is still being commented on as an excellent input into the Function. In regard to the music it was great to hear everyone joining in and singing
along to “Solidarity Forever”, “Joe Hill” and other working class songs. It was a great evening and because it was so successful the May Day Committee have decided to continue with a Function on the night before the March on May Day next year. On May 1 we assembled at the bottom of Queen Street at noon, where we offered speakers an open mic to deliver workers issues to the Rally. The May Day Bus Tour had left the Auckland Trades Hall at 10am and visited sites of Historical interest to the Labour Movement with commentary by Dean Parker. Sites included Onehunga cemetery where a labour martyr lies buried, the site of the workers’ occupation of Westfield Freezing Works in 1937, Bastion Point where New Zealand’s first Labour Prime Minister is buried and the site of Ngati Whatua land protest, and much more. After the May Day Bus Tour arrived back at the Rally we assembled with our Banners behind the NDU Picket Bus and proceeded to March up Queen Street then into Albert Park. When we arrived at Albert Park the Marchers were treated to a BBQ (supplied by the Mad Butcher) and two bands that the May Day Committee had secured earlier on in the year. All in all it was one of the better May Days with both the Function and the Rally/March being well attended.We look forward to an even larger turn out next year and the May Day Committee will be meeting later this year to start the planning for next year.
As the President/Chairman of the Auckland Branch of the Council of Trade Unions I had the privilege of chairing a public meeting for the Burma National League for Democracy held in the Trade Union Centre, 147 Great North Road, Auckland, on the 21 April 2005. After I had welcomed everyone to the meeting I then introduced the first speaker who was Mrs. Fiona Thompson, founder of the New Zealand Burma Support Group. Fiona gave a brief explanation of why we called the meeting which was to give the exiled Burmese Democratic Leaders an opportunity to tell New Zealand about the situation in Burma and to ask for our support. The next speaker was U Maung Maung, General Secretary of the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) and the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB). U Maung Maung gave an outline of the recent history of Burma, the nature of the regime, the lack of respect for human rights, the position of the people and why the delegation has come to New Zealand. The next speaker was U Hla Oo, the President of the FTUB and an MP elected in 1990 for Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). U Hla Oo stated that he was forced to leave the country and now was living in Thailand. He outlined the long history of struggle for freedom by the Burmese people against the military junta, the role and philosophy of Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, the role of the union movement and the strategy being followed by the democratic movement as a whole, including the reasons for trade sanctions and the current campaign to stop Burma taking the chair of ASEAN until it restores democracy. The next speaker was U Daniel Aung, chair of the Lahu National Development Party (Liberated Areas) and an MP elected in 1990 in a constituency in Shan State in northern Burma. U Daniel Aung was forced to flee the country and was now living in Australia. He outlined the even longer struggle by the minority ethnic people of Burma for democratic rights, the reasons for the objective of a federal state and the strategy being followed by the various
[continued overleaf]
19