Deconstructing Judith Collins’ Open Letter: A Culture-Centered Analysis of the Neoliberal Attack on Unions

Image courtesy: RNZ

I’m diving into the open letter from New Zealand’s Public Service Minister, Judith Collins, to unpack how words wield power in the ongoing public sector strike debates. In the blog, I draw on the theoretical framework of the culture-centered approach (CCA) to explore the ways in which the voices struggling in an economically disempowering climate—those of workers are marginalised by elite narratives. The targeting of worker voices exists in continuity with the pathologizing of communities struggling with poverty, indigenous peoples, and migrant communities, who are also the targets of elite narratives serving the interests of extreme capitalist accumulation. Collins’ letter, addressed to “patients, students, and families,” offers a textbook case of how governments use communication to flip realities, sideline workers, and uphold neoliberal structures. Let’s break it down using CCA’s tools—communicative inversion, rhetorical fallacies, and the interplay of culture, structure, and agency—to reveal what’s really going on.

The Culture-Centered Approach: Listening to the Margins

The CCA explores the ways in which the voices of specific groups are pushed to society’s edges—think teachers striking for better classrooms, nurses stretched thin in underfunded wards, or Māori educators weaving cultural values into their work. It argues that the politics of painting these groups as “problems” lies at the heart of entrenching capitalist extraction. It asks: How do structures like government policies or corporate priorities silence these voices? How can their agency—their power to resist and reimagine—reshape our world?

In Aotearoa, where Treaty principles and a “fair go” ethos are cultural cornerstones, this approach resonates deeply. It challenges us to see strikes not as disruptions, but as cries for justice in a system squeezing workers dry.

Collins’ letter, though, does something that I have studied closely; it turns material reality on its head through rhetorical devices. It’s a carefully crafted narrative that flips the script on who’s the “victim” and who’s the “villain.” Let’s unpack this using two key ideas that shape culture-centered analyses of power: communicative inversion and rhetorical fallacies.

Communicative Inversion: Turning Workers into the Bad Guys

Communicative inversion is when those in power—like governments or corporations—reframe their own actions as virtuous while painting the marginalized as irrational or selfish. Collins’ letter is a masterclass in this. She writes, “The Government regrets the impact… We regret even more that the strike appears to be politically motivated by the unions.” Notice the move: the government, which controls budgets and sets wage caps, positions itself as the sympathetic underdog, while unions—representing teachers, nurses, and doctors fighting for livable wages—are cast as scheming troublemakers.

Take the letter’s jab at the secondary teachers’ union for raising Palestine in negotiations: “Palestine. Not terms and conditions. Not student achievement. Not the new curriculum. Palestine.” This is classic inversion. Teachers linking their local struggles to global solidarity—a culturally rich act in Aotearoa’s progressive education spaces—are mocked as distracted extremists. In reality, this reflects agency: workers connecting their fight for fair pay to broader justice issues, much like Māori communities tie labor rights to Treaty obligations. But Collins flips it, erasing the structural violence of underfunded schools and hospitals (where real wages have stagnated amid soaring costs) to paint unions as the problem.

The deeper inversion? Collins claims the government acts in “good faith” with offers “in line with inflation.” Yet, tying raises to inflation—when Auckland’s housing costs swallow $100,000 salaries whole—ignores the lived realities of workers. Meanwhile, the letter laments $8.9 billion in debt servicing, framing it as a reason “we can’t afford” better wages. This hides how neoliberal policies prioritize mobilizing tax cuts for property owners while powering down on the workers who labour in delivering the essential needs in education and healthcare. In CCA terms, this erases workers’ cultural contexts—burnout, unaffordable rents, Pasifika nurses’ whānau obligations—to vilify their resistance.

Rhetorical Fallacies: Tugging Heartstrings, Dodging Truths

Collins’ letter leans on rhetorical tricks to sway readers, sidelining the structural issues at play. Let’s spotlight a few:

Emotional Appeals and Finger-Pointing: The letter tugs at heartstrings, invoking “parents of senior students… missing two crucial days” before NCEA exams, or “6000 New Zealanders… living in pain” from delayed medical care. This paints unions as heartless, while the government plays the caring protector. It’s a fallacy that sidesteps the real issue: chronic understaffing and underfunding cause far more delays than a one-day strike. By urging parents to “question their union’s priorities,” Collins shifts blame from policy failures to workers’ character—a classic ad hominem attack.

False Choices and Half-Truths: The letter sets up a stark choice: fiscal discipline or chaos. “The country is simply not earning enough… Only by New Zealand becoming wealthier can we afford to spend more.” This false dichotomy ignores options like taxing wealth or cutting corporate subsidies. The “FACTS” section boasts “$100,000 base salaries” for most teachers or “11% increases” for nurses by 2026, but omits structurally-shaped material realities: $100k barely covers rent in Auckland, and “increases” are eroded by inflation and prior wage freezes. Comparing public sector wage growth (2.8%) to private sector (2.3%) sounds fair—until you remember private workers face gig-economy precarity, not stability.

Selective Storytelling: Collins claims unions rejected “numerous offers” without member votes, implying bad faith. But why no mention of union surveys showing majority support for strikes? Or why arbitration was refused—perhaps because it hands power to elite mediators, not workers? These omissions craft a one-sided “truth” that drowns out subaltern voices.

These fallacies aren’t just sloppy reasoning—they’re tools to uphold a cultural narrative where workers’ demands are “unfair” but austerity is “responsible.” In Aotearoa, where fairness and community are cherished, this twists cultural values against the very people embodying them.

Culture, Structure, and Agency: What’s at Stake

Collins’ letter isn’t just words—it’s a communication infrastructure that reinforces the pursuit of extreme neoliberalism in Aotearoa. By framing strikes as “unwarranted,” it silences the agency of teachers, nurses, and doctors who are fighting not just for pay, but for cultural priorities: smaller classes for better learning, staffed wards for Māori and Pasifika patients, or solidarity with global struggles. This matters in a bicultural nation where Treaty principles demand equitable systems, yet public services—vital for Māori communities—are stretched thin.

The letter’s call for parents to police teachers’ union loyalty flips dialogue into distrust, stifling the collective agency. It also buries structural truths: delayed diagnoses aren’t just strike fallout; they’re symptoms of years of underinvestment. Nurses aren’t striking for fun—they’re exhausted from holding together a creaking health system. Teachers aren’t “political” for caring about Palestine—they’re modeling the global awareness we want students to learn.

A Culture-Centered Way Forward

So, what’s the alternative? The CCA calls us to co-create spaces where subaltern voices lead. Imagine community hui where teachers, nurses, and whānau share their stories, not just Collins’ “facts.” Picture union-led campaigns that weave Māori values of manaakitanga (care) and kotahitanga (unity) into demands for fair wages and funded services. Or bargaining tables that honor workers’ agency, not arbitration that hands power back to elites.

In Aotearoa, we can draw on cultural strengths—bicultural commitments, community resilience—to challenge neoliberal myths. Collins’ letter says “only a wealthier New Zealand” can afford better schools and hospitals. CCA says: "reimagine wealth." Tax the ultra-rich. Prioritize people over debt payments. Amplify the voices of those on the picket lines, not just the podiums.

As teachers, nurses, and doctors strike, let us honor these everyday New Zealanders whose invaluable service strengthens the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand. Let's reject the divisive binary that turns parents against teachers, patients against healthcare workers, and everyday New Zealanders against everyday New Zealanders organized into Unions to demand labour rights.