A historic mega strike involving more than 100,000 essential workers is set to march on despite several rallies being cancelled because of life-threatening weather.
Teachers, nurses and thousands of other workers are all expected to strike today, which police warn may lead to significant traffic disruptions.
All workers involved are still walking off the job despite a number of planned events being cancelled at the last minute in regions such as Canterbury, Wellington and the Wairarapa.
Wellington, Wairarapa south of Carterton, the Canterbury High Country, Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains are all under a strong red wind warning.
The Post Primary Teachers’ Association said the strike cannot be cancelled because formal notices have already been sent to employers, RNZ reported.
Who is striking?
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More than 36,000 nurses are scheduled to strike from 11am to 3pm and about 40,000 to 50,000 teachers are also set to take similar action.
An estimated 11,500 other healthcare workers, including senior doctors, dentists, social workers and others, will join them.
Senior doctors were striking only in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, RNZ reported.
A Talbot Mills poll out yesterday showed more than six out of 10 New Zealanders backed the action.
Traffic disruptions
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In one of the larger rallies, thousands of workers are expected to march down Queen St, Auckland.
Police said they were aware of the strike action planned in central Auckland, which is expected to cause significant disruption on the roads.
The rally is due to start about midday at Aotea Square and will include a march down Queen St to Te Komititanga Square, where the event will conclude.
Police said motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid Queen St and the surrounding areas if possible.
Public transport users should check Auckland Transport’s website for information on changes to services.
Mental health social worker Andy Colwell said he is striking because the Government needs to properly fund the public health system.
“The public of New Zealand needs to hear what is happening under this Government; people need to hear about the understaffing, under-resourcing and the impact this is having on services across the sector.
“Strike action is a legitimate form of action to take in order to fight for better pay and conditions of work,” Colwell said.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the strike is unfair, unproductive, unnecessary and should be called off.
“The strike will not help anyone.
“It is a stunt targeting the Government, but the people paying the price are the thousands of patients who have had appointments and surgeries cancelled, and the hundreds of thousands of kids who will miss another day at school,” Collins said.
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Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
Time to Tickle Your Thinker 🧠
If a zookeeper had 100 pairs of animals in her zoo, and two pairs of babies are born for each one of the original animals, then (sadly) 23 animals don’t survive, how many animals do you have left in total?
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Poll: As a customer, what do you think about automation?
The Press investigates the growing reliance on your unpaid labour.
Automation (or the “unpaid shift”) is often described as efficient ... but it tends to benefit employers more than consumers.
We want to know: What do you think about automation?
Are you for, or against?
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9.5% For. Self-service is less frustrating and convenient.
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43.3% I want to be able to choose.
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47.2% Against. I want to deal with people.
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