The Unemployment Workers' Movement
The Unemployment Worker’s Movement (UWM), which was created after the effects of the Depression hit most of the society, became a significant driving force behind the riots which took place.
As the awareness of the effects the Depression and the unemployment was having on the people, the Unemployed Workers’ Movement was founded. The UWM (or NUWM as it was sometimes called) was organized in 1931, following two conferences originally called by the Wellington Unemployed Workers Movement. At the second conference, UWM became an organization with a number of militant demand, which it voiced, on behalf of the people. For example, an unemployment
insurance scheme to be paid from company profits, or a £3 a week payment to the married unemployed was demanded from the government by the UWM.
They were based on the British UWM which had begun in 1921 and its purpose was to serve as a trade union for the unemployed so that they would have a voice for political protest. It was a way for the people to openly and publicly criticise the government for not considering the social, political and economic difficulties which they faced during the Depression Era and to gain attention for their needs.
The New Zealand UWM was made up of “left-wing communist –leaning individuals” as is told in Protest and women were encouraged to voice their concerns and show support though the women’s committees which the UWM also had. Some of the key individuals who led the group included Jim Edwards, who is sometimes referred to as the leader of the great Queen Street Riots in Auckland. As historian Paul Harris writes:
“The New Zealand N.U.W.M. was similarly associated with the national Communist Party. Scott claimed that the majority of N.U.W.M. members were left-wing Labour Party supporters, although admitting that an early leader, James Edwards, was a Communist. But the organization's first National Secretary was also a Communist Party member, and Powell's argument that one of the Communist Party's main difficulties with the N.U.W.M. was that it occasionally acted independently of the Party, also suggests that the movement was, from its inception, closely connected to the Communist Party.”
The UWM gained momentum in 1932 with 13,000 members. While its primary concern was to make the government accountable for their negligence towards the unemployed, they also opposed the Labour Party and many other trade union groups, who in their opinion were not doing sufficient work to help the New Zealanders in need. It was the UWM who organised the large public protests which led to the 1932 Depression Riots which took place across the four main centres of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin during the “Angry Autumn” of 1932.
As the awareness of the effects the Depression and the unemployment was having on the people, the Unemployed Workers’ Movement was founded. The UWM (or NUWM as it was sometimes called) was organized in 1931, following two conferences originally called by the Wellington Unemployed Workers Movement. At the second conference, UWM became an organization with a number of militant demand, which it voiced, on behalf of the people. For example, an unemployment
insurance scheme to be paid from company profits, or a £3 a week payment to the married unemployed was demanded from the government by the UWM.
They were based on the British UWM which had begun in 1921 and its purpose was to serve as a trade union for the unemployed so that they would have a voice for political protest. It was a way for the people to openly and publicly criticise the government for not considering the social, political and economic difficulties which they faced during the Depression Era and to gain attention for their needs.
The New Zealand UWM was made up of “left-wing communist –leaning individuals” as is told in Protest and women were encouraged to voice their concerns and show support though the women’s committees which the UWM also had. Some of the key individuals who led the group included Jim Edwards, who is sometimes referred to as the leader of the great Queen Street Riots in Auckland. As historian Paul Harris writes:
“The New Zealand N.U.W.M. was similarly associated with the national Communist Party. Scott claimed that the majority of N.U.W.M. members were left-wing Labour Party supporters, although admitting that an early leader, James Edwards, was a Communist. But the organization's first National Secretary was also a Communist Party member, and Powell's argument that one of the Communist Party's main difficulties with the N.U.W.M. was that it occasionally acted independently of the Party, also suggests that the movement was, from its inception, closely connected to the Communist Party.”
The UWM gained momentum in 1932 with 13,000 members. While its primary concern was to make the government accountable for their negligence towards the unemployed, they also opposed the Labour Party and many other trade union groups, who in their opinion were not doing sufficient work to help the New Zealanders in need. It was the UWM who organised the large public protests which led to the 1932 Depression Riots which took place across the four main centres of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin during the “Angry Autumn” of 1932.