On this day, 13 February 1951, Aotearoa/New Zealand’s biggest ever industrial dispute began when dock workers started an overtime ban demanding the same 15% pay increase that all industrial workers had just been awarded. Waterside workers had only been offered a 9% pay increase, by the mostly British-owned shipping companies. The employers responded by locking out the workers, supported by the government who introduced emergency laws, brought in the army and navy to work as scabs and deregistered the Waterside Workers’ Union. The national umbrella union group, the Federation of Labour, supported the government, and the opposition Labour Party also failed to support the Waterside workers. Despite all the forces ranged against them, up to 20,000 other workers took solidarity strike action in support of the dockers, and thousands more refused to handle scab goods. But after 151 days, the workers were forced to concede defeat. In the wake of the dispute, many militants were blacklisted and prevented from working on the docks for years afterwards. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1920052584846549/?type=3
The true jackals (black-backed jackals and side-striped jackals) evolved in ecosystems where there is a lot of competition among large predators. Their small size allows them to be very nimble and agile so it’s difficult for the larger animals that can and do prey on them to actually catch them. It’s not really worth it for a lion to expend a lot of energy to prey on something so small so their presence around carcasses is often tolerated or ignored. So they’re small as to not be to be viwed as a threat and very difficult for most large predators to catch without wasting a lot of energy. It allows them to scavenge mostly unbothered, while having the ability to escape at a moment’s notice.
Here’s one of my favorite vidoes to show just how quick black-backed jackals are. They are often seen walking up to adult lions and nipping at them. By the time the lion gets up, the jackal is in the next zipcode 😂
