Janice Panoho
Ngāpuhi
Ki te taha ki taku pāpā Ko Te Parawhau rātau ko Te Uriroiroi, ko Patu Harakeke ngā hapū. Ko Maungārongo te marae. Nō Whatatiri ahau. Te maunga: Koia tēnei ko te whare tapu o Ngā Puhi. I tēnei o ngā maunga i te pito o te Rangi. Mai tēra pito, koia Whatitiri. Ki te taha ki taku māmā ko Te Ngāti Ueoneone, ko Okorihi te Marae, Nō Kaikohe ahau Ngā Ngāpuhi ngā iwi. Ko taku hoa rangatira he Ko Heremia Te Wake, E Ngāti Manawa tōku hapū, Ngāpuhi nga iwi. E toru māua tamariki, e ono māua mokopuna. Ko Cyril Panoho rāua ko Mate Dalton taku matua Ko Janice Panoho tōku ingoa.
Ms Panoho was fourteen years old when she and fellow students from Auckland’s Western Springs College (then called Seddon High School) across the city’s harbour bridge during the 1975 Land March. Next year she was part of the Bastion Point occupation, as an organiser with the Grey Lynn Youth Group.
An active unionist all her life, Janice began work for the Public Service Association in 1984. She was previously on the Executive Board of the Clerical Workers Union and ran for parliament as a Mana Motuhake and Alliance candidate. In her new role, she oversees the integration of kaupapa Māori programmes and strategies into the Public Service Association’s campaigns, works to normalise tikanga practice in the Public Service Association, and leads the union’s engagement with iwi and kaupapa Māori organisations.
Representation, racism, power and mass communication
"Systemic racism remains a major barrier for Māori. It manifest as fewer opportunities in education at mahi; discrimination in recruitment practices, unsafe work environments or ethnic wage inequities. A lifetime of poorer labour market outcomes means that some older Māori remain in mahi out of necessity. Some Māori groups experience persistent and intersecting barriers. These groups include wāhine, tāngata whaikaha, members of the LGBTQI+ and takatāpui community, and older Māori.
The union movement has historically made significant contributions to progressive social change in this country and around the world. They are the powerhouse behind the eight-hour working day, workplace health and safety and continue to champion parental leave and pay equity.
BUT what is the role of the public sector and private sector union movement in challenging racism and upholding Te Tiriti within the workplace, within the health, education and criminal justice systems and beyond? What are unions currently doing in this space? What is the potential of the union contribution in this space? Is Te Tiriti o Waitangi being embraced by unions and union delegates? What are the roles of Māori and Tauiwi in this space? How can we protect the special interests of casual migrant workers in the context of global capitalism? With so much happening at home what should be our contribution be to the global movement for racial justice? How do we protect those that speak up?
This fireside chat brings together union leaders to have a constructive free and frank conversation about where the union movement is at with these powerful questions. Bring your own questions to this interactive session."
