About 350 workers and members of the public gathered with flags and placards yesterday, joining thousands across the country.
They were protesting as part of the Fight Back Together — Maranga Ake hui, organised by unions in response to what they called the government’s anti-worker legislation.
Unions Otago convener Andrew Tait told those gathered New Zealand was embroiled in a class war.
"It’s clear that [Christopher] Luxon and his wrecking crew are coming after you — they’re coming after working-class people as a whole.
"This is class war."
The stopwork meeting was a "taste" of what a general strike might look like, he said.
"Our bosses are happy, our children are not," he said.
"Solidarity is the secret of our strength," Mr Tait said.
The rights of the working class and Māori were "inextricable", he said.
Justice for Māori served everybody, Dr Barber said.
"The use of anti-Māori populism by this government is designed to sow division amongst the working class."
"Also to clear the road for further privatisation, further funnelling of money upwards to the very small proportion of rich people in the country — away from the workers."
The protests would show the government people were not "fooled" by its policies, he said.
"People are telling them it’s not going to happen."
The group passed five motions, including calling for safe working conditions, improved infrastructure, protection for Māori rights, a living wage and protections against artificial intelligence and climate change.
