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Another factory closure has been announced in NZ - in a country of 4.5 million people each and every factory closure is quite big news. The latest one is the iconic Cadbury's chocolate factory in Dunedin, NZ's 5th largest city. The company has been making substantial profits but they want to 'rationalise' production by having it essentially done in Australia - the Australian domestic market is 5 times bigger than NZ and Australia is closer to major export markets. It's a good little example of how, under capitalism, social good - having people in jobs in Dunedin - is less important than maximising profits. It's not just *making* a profit, it's *maximising* profit. Usually factory closures here are met with resignation by workers. Sometimes they cry. What they don't do is fight. It will be interesting to see if this case is different, as there is a good core of independent far-left activists in Dunedin who are keen to do stuff around Cadbury's. Below is an interview I did a couple of years ago with a spokesperson for the Vio.me factory occupation in Thessaloniki. Although it's three years old, it's a good interview for showing that workers don't just have to roll over and accept being made jobless - and Dunedin there aren't a lot of jobs waiting for redundant workers to come and fill them. One of the big big things here is just convincing workers that they *can* fight and that it's better - even just from the standpoint of personal self-respect - to fight than to roll over and die. https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/workers-self-management-only-solution-interview-with-spokesperson-for-vio-me-occupation/ Phil _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
