pga aoteoaroa meeting

 

On March 18 Aotearoa Educators (AE!) and Wellington anarchist group the Committee for the Establishment of Civilisation (CEC) held an open meeting to discuss setting up a New Zealand branch of Peoples Global Action (PGA).

CONTENTS

neo-liberal globalisation and
the tino rangatiratanga
movement


mayday 2001

water bill payment strike

direct action gets results!

glimpses of an alternative
society (part 3)


pga aotearoa

waterfront dispute continues

wage

 
 

A diverse range of activists attended, representing Tino Rangatiratanga, animal rights, anarchism, socialism, trade unionism, and the peace movement, to name but a few.

we are all zapatistas! The meeting began with a background report by Tino Rangatiratanga advocates who had been involved with PGA at the global level since February 1998, when peoples movements from all continents met in Geneva and launched a worldwide coordination of resistance against the global market. This alliance of struggle and mutual support was named the Peoples Global Action against "Free" Trade and the World Trade Organisation. It gave rise to the anti-MAI campaign and the Global Days of Action.

There was discussion on whether we needed a PGA Aotearoa. It was explained that the PGA is not an organisation, and so PGA Aotearoa would not be involved in recruiting members and swallowing them into some broad activist bureaucracy. Instead, it would be about networking between individuals and groups in a way that would not impinge on group autonomy. It would be about providing political space where groups and individuals can come together to realise commonalities and push forward on common goals. Its intention would be to strengthen links between movements across the country so that we are more fully prepared for neoliberal resistance. It would also put us in contact and in sync with the anti-globalisation movement around the planet.

Attendees expressed support for this proposition. It was agreed that those present were committed to the PGA Aotearoa and working towards united actions. Setting up a PGA Aotearoa may take a lot of energy, so we agreed that Wellington based groups would come together and work on global resistance for May Day as a first step towards working together under a PGA umbrella.

After May Day we will meet again to discuss what happened on May Day, talk about our hallmarks and then invite activists and flax/grass/taro roots groups from around Aotearoa to network together and create a PGA Aotearoa.

For those interest in working on activities for May Day, we are meeting on Mondays at 7pm at the Peace and Environment Centre, Trades Hall, 126 Vivian St, Wellington.

Those interested in being involved in a PGA Aotearoa should contact Aotearoa Educators (AE!) at tino-rangatiratanga-owner@yahoogroups.com or the Committee for the Establishment of Civilisation (CEC) at cec@mad.scientist.com.