Matt McCarten is of the left. He is the person behind the UNITE union in NZ, which has been quite confrontational when attempting to get a deal for their members, or shame a multinational.

(McCarten is smart: he targeted McDonalds, which is no longer loved by the middle class liberals who buy Spurlock documentaries). He writes a column for the Sunday Herald. Today he let this slip:

Workers have always the known that politics impacts on their lives, and expect their unions to have a political strategy. Workers in many countries, including New Zealand, have even formed political parties of their own to advance their interests.

But no one believes that Labour is the sole champion of workers’ interests any more. The Greens are consistently better on workers’ issues. The Maori Party is more reliable. Even if Labour was the most pro-worker party, putting all the union movement’s eggs into one party isn’t that smart.

via Matt McCarten: Little bites off a lot more than he can chew – Politics – NZ Herald News.

As a conservative, I beleive that any group can meet and work collectively for the interests of their members. This process is neutral, and indeed needed: it is easier for the government to talk to the medical association or the chair of the farmer’s group than to each ornery individual in that group. There is nothing morally wrong with a union. There is nothing wrong with promoting interests in the agora: we allow free speech so that the public can criticise and confront ideas, in the hope that out of this challenge truth will be reinforced.

What McCarten is saying is that the neo-feudal,  “organic” connection of Labour with the union movement is over. He, in my mind correctly, sees Labour as working in the interests of public sector employees and specail interests. He does not see them as being for the workers. He notes that the Green party is more socialist that Labour. He is removing the middle man — or the middle party — from the equation.

And he,  rightly, says that one cannot serve two masters: one will either sacrifice one’s political ambitions to represent your union members, or disavow your political ambitions. You can’d do both.

I often disagree with Matt, but he conclusion is correct. The day, in New Zealand, of a broad movement of the left is over. Labour has forgotten the reason it was created. They are no longer in power, and their performace has deteriorated since the election.

Labour has to think about how they will survive. They cannot rely on the (few remaining) workers in NZ:  the Maori party and the Greens may poach the beneficiaries as well. I predict that the party will either move left (and compete with the Greens) or rediscover populism.

The latter is unlikely. This could be interesting.