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Ra Whakamana national day of solidarity 28 October 2025

MUNZ is calling on maritime workers and their whanau to join mass mobilisations for Ra Whakamana, a national day of solidarity on 28 October 2025, to reaffirm the tino rangatiratanga of Tangata Whenua and protect the rights and wellbeing of all workers.

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) has giv­en its full sup­port to Ra Whaka­mana, a nation­al day of sol­i­dar­i­ty on 28 Octo­ber 2025.

MUNZ is call­ing on mar­itime work­ers and their whanau to join mass mobil­i­sa­tions at 12pm to reaf­firm the tino ran­gati­ratan­ga of Tan­ga­ta When­ua and pro­tect the rights and well­be­ing of all work­ers.

The nation­al day of action is being co-led by the Nation­al Iwi Chairs Forum and the New Zealand Coun­cil of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi.

Mar­itime Union Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says the fight for work­ers’ rights and the fight for Tir­i­ti jus­tice are inter­twined.

“On the water­front, in our ports, and on our ships, we see every day how the strug­gle for dig­ni­ty, safe­ty, and fair pay is the same strug­gle for all work­ers,” says Mr Find­lay.

“This Gov­ern­men­t’s agen­da is a direct attack on all work­ing peo­ple. They are erod­ing hard-won rights and pro­tec­tions while costs keep ris­ing, block­ing pay equi­ty for wahine, and attack­ing Te Tir­i­ti o Wai­t­an­gi. We will not stand by and let this hap­pen.”

Ra Whaka­mana is a tikan­ga-led stand for cul­tur­al well­be­ing, dig­ni­ty, work­ers’ rights, mana wahine, ran­gatahi, and tino ran­gati­ratan­ga, guid­ed by iwi lead­er­ship in part­ner­ship with the union move­ment.

The date of 28 Octo­ber car­ries deep his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance, mark­ing both the 1835 sign­ing of He Whaka­putan­ga o te Ran­gati­ratan­ga o Nu Tireni and the first Labour Day demon­stra­tions in 1890 that helped secure the eight-hour work­ing day.

Mr Find­lay says this is a his­toric col­lab­o­ra­tion between iwi and unions.

“This is a call to all Tan­ga­ta When­ua and Tan­ga­ta Tir­i­ti to stand togeth­er. For gen­er­a­tions, mar­itime work­ers have fought for a fair go. Now, we are proud to stand shoul­der-to-shoul­der with iwi to cre­ate a future where tino ran­gati­ratan­ga is real for every­one and Te Tir­i­ti o Wai­t­an­gi unites all our com­mu­ni­ties.”

“We urge our mem­bers to join their local events on 28 Octo­ber and send a pow­er­ful mes­sage: we will not back down.”

Events will be held across the coun­try. To stay updat­ed on details, vis­it: https://www.together.org.nz/ra_whakamana

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