- Bill Andersen
:"For the Tennessee politician, see Bill Andersen."
Bill Andersen (
January 21 1924 -January 19 2005 ) was aNew Zealand communist andtrade union leader. He was one of the participants in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout and the president of the Northern Drivers' Union and later theNational Distribution Union .Andersen was the president of the Socialist Unity Party which broke away from the
Communist Party of New Zealand over the Sino-Soviet split, and he also led its successor, theSocialist Party of Aotearoa . One of the very few New Zealanders to take communism seriously, he visited the Societ Union and kept a bust ofLenin on his desk.Bill Andersen supported the
Ngāti Whātua occupation ofBastion Point , now the site of Orakei marae. He organised union support for the Māori claiming ownership of the land.As a trade union leader, he frequently clashed with
New Zealand National Party Prime MinisterRobert Muldoon . Whenever the two flew fromAuckland toWellington , sympatheticNAC andAir New Zealand staff ensured the two leaders were seated next to each other.He remained an active trade unionist all his life. In May 2003 he was arrested on a picket line for obstruction. He working at the National Distribution Union and Northern Drivers Charitable trust until the week of his death.
Despite requests for no funeral, a large group gathered for his memorial ceremony at
Orakei marae .References
* [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/story.cfm?a_id=65&objectid=10007504 New Zealand Herald Obituary]
* [http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/08/09.htm Obituary from Paul Watson of Foreign Control Watchdog]
* [http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR8237.html Greens mourn passing of trade unionist]
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