Ken Douglas: Traitor or Visionary?

This 2006 documentary is a portrait of one of New Zealand politics' most contradictory figures: unionist Ken Douglas. At the time of filming Douglas occupied numerous board positions (eg Air New Zealand, the NZ Rugby Football Union), but early on he was a truckie and Marxist. Rob Muldoon branded him 'Red Ken'. For 15 years until 1999 he led the Council of Trade Unions. Directed by Monique Oomen for Top Shelf Productions, the film is framed around interviews with Douglas and his colleagues, and asks whether he is a turncoat or a strategic realist moving with the times.

I think his contribution was to have kept it together in the most difficult times that any union movement in a developed democracy has ever had to face.

– Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Harris on Ken Douglas

Key Cast & Crew

Grant Tilly

Narrator

Monique Oomen

Director

Vincent Burke

Producer

Terry King

Sound Recordist

Scott George

Sound Recordist

Brian Shennan

Sound Recordist