Unions Active in Regional Development

Union involvement in regional economic development was about delivering jobs that were sustainable, well-paid, skilled and safe, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

In a speech to the CTU regional development seminar in Hamilton, Ross Wilson said there were obvious benefits for workers in Government programmes aimed at greater investment in skills, infrastructure, workplace relations, and innovation.

This is the second in a series of seminars that the CTU is organising throughout the country to inform trade unions of the economic initiatives that are taking place in their region.

"Economic development will not succeed if it ends up being about business development," Ross Wilson said.

"Workers in unions must be involved - and we have a right to be involved. We have advocated these policies for many years."

Unions were working with companies that were benefiting from the Government's regional development programmes, Ross Wilson said.

"Our involvement is about building a better future for workers and their communities. "It is also time that trade unions were represented on local and regional development bodies," he said.