Political Lessons of The Pike River Disaster and Cover-up

The Socialist Equality Group is holding a public online meeting on Saturday June 4, at 5:00 PM to launch the new book Pike River: The Crime and Cover-up. Register here to attend this meeting on Zoom: https://bit.ly/3yIbFLN

On November 19, 2010, an explosion tore through the underground Pike River coal mine. After a second explosion five days later, the 29 workers underground were declared dead. This was not a random accident: it was a crime caused by capitalism.

At this meeting, Socialist Equality Group member Tom Peters, the book's main author, will speak about the causes of the disaster, and the role played by successive National and Labour Party governments in preventing anyone being held accountable - despite a mountain of evidence that the company cut costs, turning the mine into a death trap. He will also address the ongoing role of the trade union bureaucracy, the police judicial system and the state regulators in protecting Pike River Coal.

Speakers from the Socialist Equality Parties in Australia and the United Kingdom will discuss the parallels to Pike River internationally, and how class justice protects the rich and corporations in every country. The meeting will examine the causes of the attacks on workers' safety, in New Zealand and throughout the world, which have accelerated during the pandemic. It will make the case for workers to build new, rank-and-file organisations, and a genuine socialist party.