Strikes were routinely used as an industrial relations weapon. In 1986, in an attempt to prompt settlement of a number of disputes, the Employers’ Federation put out a satirical poster showing a dejected-looking Santa Claus and giving the number of strike days to Christmas. Wellington Regional Employers’ Association manager Brendan Ryan, shown here with the poster, said, ‘It may look flippant but is not and has a serious message … We have to get the message across any way we can.’
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference:
EP/1986/5531/7
Photograph by John Nicholson
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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