John grew up in a rural, Maori, working-class community. Like many workers of his generation he began working at an early age. Although much of his working life was spent as a seasonal meat worker, he also worked many other jobs, both in Australia and New Zealand.

John soon became a union militant--one who other workers often looked to. As a partisan of the fight by the oppressed Maori nationality for their rights, he also became involved in other social and political struggles, including the movement against apartheid in South Africa.

John met the communist movement when he joined protests against the 1983 United States invasion of Grenada. He had been looking for a party that would give expression to the revolutionary, anticapitalist political conclusions he was beginning to form.

John's decision to join the communist movement posed the need to upgrade his reading skills. He enrolled in an adult literacy course, taking along a copy of Socialist Action--the newspaper of the Socialist Action League, which became the Communist League in the late 1980s--and explained to the teacher, "I want you to teach me to read this."

John became an avid promoter of the Militant and Pathfinder books to fellow workers, young people, and anyone who showed interest. He was always on the lookout for young fighters and potential revolutionaries.

In 1985 John was part of an 11-strong Workers Fact-finding Tour to Nicaragua hosted by the Sandinista Workers Federation. The tour played a prominent role in promoting solidarity with the Nicaraguan revolution.

John was a footloose worker with few ties or possessions. Through a retreat of the labor movement that began in the 1980s and lasted for more than a decade, he retained a class political outlook and unswerving confidence in the capacities of working people.

As that retreat ended, John enthusiastically welcomed the new generation of workers beginning to join the fight for Maori rights, union battles, and other social struggles.

A meeting to celebrate John Martin's contribution to the communist movement will be held at the Pathfinder Press Bookshop in Christchurch at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, June 17. Messages can be e-mailed to 100035.3205@compuserve.com or faxed to (649) 358-3124. A collection will be held for the Books for Cuba fund.  
 
 
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