1981 Springbok Tour Protest
Springbok Tour protest
Unions in Wellington were an important part of the coalition opposing the Springbok tour. Union opposition to sporting contact with apartheid South Africa started in 1948. An edition of The Transport Worker in that year argued it was wrong for the All Blacks to tour in South Africa without Maori players, as required by the South Africans.
During the tour, because of police batoning of demonstrators, a set of body armour was devised to protect the demonstrators against police violence: Construction helmet, cardboard tube chest protectors that were made in Trades Hall (and were a lot stronger than that sounds), jandal collarbone protectors, and rolled up newspaper shin pads.
A voluntary strike was timed to support the first demonstration during the Tour. Thousands of union members took part. Trade Union worker opposition to the Tour was so strong in Wellington it even had the effect of persuading some prominent employer representatives that they too, morally must take part in demonstrations.
A video on the demonstrations can be viewed on this website.