Laila Harre's recent appointment as the new 'Human Resources and Change Manager' for the Auckland Transitional Authority (ATA) has raised eyebrows across the left in both Auckland and throughout New Zealand, given her current role as National Distribution Union (NDU) General Secretary and former Alliance Party leader.

I have to say from the outset that I personally admire Laila for stepping into the Alliance leadership breach following Jim Anderton's leaving the party and also her work as a unionist with her victories on higher pay for nurses and supermarket workers being amongst the biggest gains secured for workers in recent years.

Laila Harre was also the primary catalyst behind the paid parental leave policy, introduced by the Labour-Alliance Government and probably the Alliance Party's greatest policy win too while in government (besides the creation of Kiwi Bank.)

However, it is disappointing to hear that she has decided to leave the NDU to become the human resources manager for the authority that will oversee the establishment of the new Auckland 'super city'. As John Minto has written in his Scoop website blog this week, her appointment is a win for Auckland business and right-wing interests who want to calm down public concerns over the formation of the new local authority. I agree with Minto that this is what probably prompted the new ATA to actively headhunt and then poach Laila from the union movement in order to give it some street cred amongst left leaning voters and activists and in doing so provide them with a soon to be ex-union 'insider' who will be able to advise the new super city bosses on how to deal with the unions and the workers they represent.

One of her first tasks will be most likely to oversee the tranch of redundancies that will result from the formation of the new super city. In doing so, she will most likely come into conflict with many of her former union colleagues and left-wing comrades. When this scenario transpires (as it most likely will), it will signal one thing - that another socialist rose will have wilted before the temple of capitalist power.

Other socialist roses have wilted before, driven by the whiff of exercising power and influence within the temples of New Zealand capitalism.

One such prominent example was Rob Campbell, former Federation of Labour (FOL) economist who was a founder of the left-wing think tank and Labour Party ginger group, the Economic Policy Network (EPN) alongside his other economist friend and colleague, Alf Kirk. Campbell was a key critic of Rogernomics within both the Labour Party and the labour movement and (along with Kirk), he stunningly defected to the employer camp at the height of the Rogernomics era.

As someone noted today, Laila has therefore not been the first and will definitely not be the last socialist to effectively defect in this way.

Therefore, I find this move saddening and disappointing in that I expected Laila to remain in the union movement for the forseeable future. She could have delivered more victories for some of the most vulnerable workers in this country, namely, those who work in the retail and distribution industries but no, she has chosen to go down the path well tread by other former left wing activists before.

How many more socialist roses then will continue to wilt before capitalism's powerful pull? I don't know but for so long as the system remains predominant as it is, this will continue to be the fate of many a past effective unionist.