'Join our 5% wage campaign, Winston!'

"Winston Peters' parliamentary record does not support his claim to be the new, workers' advocate," CTU president Ross Wilson said today.He was responding to Peters' attack on the CTU and unions in his speech at the Cashmere Club today.

"I welcome Winston Peters' burst of advocacy for higher wages but where was he when we needed him?"

"NZ First has opposed every Government measure in Parliament over the past six years to improve wage bargaining for workers" Ross Wilson said.

"It opposed the Employment Relations Act in 2000 and it opposed the amendments last year to strengthen it."

"If he had gone into coalition with Labour instead of National in 1996 the Employment Contracts Act could have been repealed three years earlier.

"It is salt in the wounds to blame unions for failing to win higher wages for all workers."

"I hope workers will see Winston Peters' rhetoric as the hypocrisy it is."

"Join our 5% wage campaign Winston; it's been running for six months."