Bill Andersen was a New Zealand communist and trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 leader. He was one of the participants in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout

1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute

The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting financial hardships and working conditions. Thousands more refused to...

 and the president of the Northern Drivers' Union and later the National Distribution Union

National Distribution Union

The National Distribution Union is a national trade union in New Zealand. It was formed in 1986 as the Northern Distribution Union by the merger of The Northern Drivers Union, The Northern Stores and Warehouse Union, The Auckland and Gisborne Shop Employee Union, and The Northern Butchers and...

.

Andersen was the president of the Socialist Unity Party

Socialist Unity Party (New Zealand)

The Socialist Unity Party was one of the better-known communist parties in New Zealand. It had a certain amount of influence in the trade union movement, but never won seats in Parliament....

 which broke away from the Communist Party of New Zealand

Communist Party of New Zealand

The Communist Party of New Zealand was a Communist political party in New Zealand from the 1920s to the early 1990s. It never achieved significant political success, and no longer exists as an independent group, although the Socialist Worker organisation is considered organisationally continuous...

 over the Sino-Soviet split, and he also led its successor, the Socialist Party of Aotearoa. One of the very few New Zealanders to take communism seriously, he visited the Soviet Union and kept a bust of Lenin on his desk.

Bill Andersen supported the Ngāti Whātua

Ngati Whatua

Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It consists of four hapu : Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taoū, and Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei....

 occupation of Bastion Point

Bastion Point

Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. The area has significance in New Zealand history for its role in 1970s Māori protests against forced land alienation by non Māori New Zealanders.-History:The land was occupied by Ngāti...

, now the site of Orakei marae. He organised union support for the Māori claiming ownership of the land.

As a trade union leader, he frequently clashed with New Zealand National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 Prime Minister Robert Muldoon

Robert Muldoon

Sir Robert David "Rob" Muldoon, GCMG, CH served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984, as leader of the governing National Party. Muldoon had been a prominent member of the National party and MP for the Tamaki electorate for some years prior to becoming leader of the party...

. Whenever the two flew from Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 to Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, sympathetic NAC

National Airways Corporation

National Airways Corporation was the national domestic airline of New Zealand from 1947 until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington...

 and Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...

 staff ensured the two leaders were seated next to each other.

He remained an active trade unionist all his life. In May 2003 he was arrested on a picket line for obstruction. He working at the National Distribution Union and Northern Drivers Charitable trust until the week of his death.

Despite requests for no funeral, a large group gathered for his memorial ceremony at Orakei

Orakei

Orakei is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, close to the shore of the Waitemata Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and the Orakei Basin, two arms of the Waitemata, which lie to...

 marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

.