Media Release
The Communist League is fielding candidates in the upcoming elections for mayor in Auckland and Manukau.
The League is standing Felicity Coggan, 51, a clothing worker, for mayor of Auckland and Baskaran Appu, 41, a meat
worker, for mayor of Manukau.
The communist candidates urge support for workers’ struggles to organise trade unions. They believe workers must use and
extend union power to defend themselves and other working people from attacks by the employers and their ruling parties.
Coggan and Appu call for the withdrawal of United States and “coalition” troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, including the
withdrawal of all New Zealand troops and police from Afghanistan and the Pacific.
In their campaign platform the Communist League candidates call for a massive government-funded public works programme
to build and upgrade housing, schools, medical facilities, transportation systems, and recreational facilities. They
urge support for Maori rights and for women’s rights. They demand an end to the jailing and deportation of immigrant
“overstayers” and refugees.
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