Ryan Bridge: Political wannabe's come from unions

Unions charge like wounded bulls for their services. 

And they claim they're in it for the workers. 

They care about workers' pay and conditions so much, they're worked their way up the union ranks to help those at the bottom.

But then once they get a bit of profile. They jump ship to the Labour party, their good mates. 

Craif Rennie - flits between the CTU and Grant Robertson's office - has been selected to run in Wellington Bays. 

Fleur Fitzsimons - who tried but failed to get elected for Labour. She's surely trying to weasel her way back on to a list. 

Michael Wood - he wants back in. 

You see, Unions are simply not the premiere league. They're the equivalent of the bench for Labour's caucus. 

It's the place you go to keep your profile up while you wait for another turn at sucking from the public tit. 

There's nothing particularly wrong with this. 

But if you're a low-wage worker who believes these people are your champions and are in for you. For negotiating hard with your employers. For doing the mahi. 

And then you realise, actually, they've just been using your plight to feather their nest at the beehive, wouldn't you be a bit pissed off? 

Not all union members are Lefties. Sure, many of them are. 

But most just want a fair deal and decent spokesperson. 

Not a bunch of political wannabes doing dress ups waiting for their time in the national spotlight. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A lot of strikes on at the moment in the unions.
While they charge like wounded bulls for their services, don't
they some of them up to fifty bucks a fortnight
for the privilege. And they claim that they're in it
for the workers. Of course they do. They care about them.
They want to pay the conditions, They want them to
be better. They've worked their way up the union ranks
to help those at the bottom, et cetera, et cetera.
But then once they get a bit of a profile,

(00:22):
they jump ship and where do they go? The Labor Party.
They're good mates. And Craig Rennie he fits the bill
for this. He flits between the c TU and Grant
Robertson's office, and he's been now selected to run in
Wellington Bays. Flurfits Simon's who tried but failed to get
elected for Labor. She's surely going to try and weasel
her way back and onto the list somewhere. Michael Wood,

(00:43):
he wants back in. Can't get enough of it. You see,
Unions are simply not the premier league for these guys,
are they. They're the equivalent of the bench for the
Labor Caucus. It's the place you go to keep your
profile up while you wait for another turn. It's sucking
from the public. Titing particularly wrong with this. But if
you're a low wage worker who believes these people are

(01:05):
your champions and are in it for you, for negotiating
hard with your employees, for doing the mahi, and then
you realize, actually they've just been using this as a
bit of a flight path to feather their nest at
the beehive, wouldn't you be a bit pissed off with that?
I would be. Not all union members are lefties after all.
Sure many of them are, but most just want a

(01:25):
fair deal and a decent spokesperson, not a bunch of
political wannabes doing dress ups waiting for their time in
the national spotlight. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
listen live to News Talk Set B from five am weekdays,
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