A documentary which surveys the history of working people and the trade union movement in New Zealand.
“All history has a point of view. And that point of view depends on where you stand in your experience of life. To many working men and women that catches them between a hammer and an anvil: the hammer of the world which confronts them and the anvil of the tradition they inherit. This is a film about the hammer and the anvil.”
Topics and people covered include: migration to NZ in C19th; Maori and settlers’ prejudice and land wars; early strikes; craft unions and unionism; gold rushes; Julius Vogel’s infrastructure and stimulus programme; Long Depression, strikes and the exploitation of people and the land; return to prosperity following the first shipment of frozen mutton in 1882; Knights of Labor in New Zealand; 1890 Sweating Commission and growth in “new” trade unions and the Maritime Council; 1890 Maritime Strike; election of Liberal Government; Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (IC&A) Act 1894; Pat Hickey, 1908 Blackball Strike and the “Red” Federation of Labour; Harry Holland and the “Maoriland Worker”; increasing union militancy, election of Massey Government and 1912 Waihi Strike; 1913 Waterfront Strike and Massey’s Cossacks; First World War and opposition to conscription; memories of the Great Depression and riots; electoral success of Labour Party in 1935 and First Labour Government; effects of World War Two; fall of Labour and election of National Government in 1949; industrial unrest; 1951 Waterfront Dispute; Jock Barnes; Fintan Patrick (F. P.) Walsh; effect of emergency regulations; Freemans Bay and erosion of working class areas and cultures; Mangere Bridge Dispute; unemployed workers; societal and economic changes; General Stoppage 20 September 1979.
Uses archival photographs, footage, folk ballads and interviews with participants.