February, 2003

"Grossly exaggerated claims of the cost of modest increases to workers' holiday entitlements continue the campaign of scare tactics by National Party," said Ross Wilson today.

"Exploiting migrant workers is not the answer to our skills shortage," said Council of Trade Unions president Paul Goulter today."The answer lies in higher wages and more training of New Zealand workers." he said.

Paul Goulter said employers who exploited vulnerable immigrant workers were using a short term solution which did nothing to address the skills shortage issue.

"We need to keep the people who are here in New Zealand by paying good wages and upskilling our existing workforce," he said.

Paul Goulter expressed concern that the Road Transport Association had raised the issue of a shortage of drivers, and was now seeking to attract drivers from overseas.

"There needs to be compelling reasons for resorting to more immigration to address skills shortages instead of providing good wages and skills training to existing workers," said Paul Goulter.

"However, employers have a responsibility, both legally and morally, to extend all the protections of our employment laws."

Over 500 women are in Melbourne this week for the 8th World Women's Conference of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

They bring together the issues facing 63 million women in trade unions from 148 countries across the globe.

"The new Holidays Bill is a huge step forward from the existing Act
which dates back to the 1940s," said Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson today."It will restore some entitlements for workers lost during the Employment Contracts era, as well providing a simpler and more comprehensive Act for employers to work from," he said.

The new Holidays Bill was tabled in Parliament today.

"The new bill is the product of a lengthy tripartite Advisory Committee and drafting process and reflects a high level of consensus between the CTU and Business NZ," said Ross Wilson.

"Governments have backed off tackling this hot potato for the past 10 years and getting a Bill into Parliament is a real achievement for the Minister of Labour and the tripartite processes she put in place."

Ross Wilson said the bill also delivered on the Labour Party election
promises to provide an additional payment for workers who have to work on public holidays and to separate bereavement leave out as a minimum code entitlement.

"After all, it has never been fair that workers should have to use their sick leave to attend the funeral or tangi of a close family member," he said.

The Council of Trade Unions is calling for the restoration of personal grievance rights after the release of a report showing a pro-employer trend in decisions in the Court of Appeal.

The Council of Trade Unions has joined Greenpeace and other organisations in a joint letter to the Prime Minister urging the New Zealand Government to declare its support for the proposal being put to the UN Security Council on Friday 14
February by the Governments of France, Germany and Russia for
extended inspection and disarmament teams in Iraq.

The Council of Trade Unions has welcomed the fall in unemployment below 5%. This indicates a high demand for labour and continuing growth in employment."Although a reduction in those on the overall workforce is one explanation for the sharp fall in the unemployment rate, it is a good sign that unemployment has fallen below 5%," said the CTU economist Peter Conway today.

Peter Conway said the fall also showed that Government policies such as increasing the minimum wage are compatible with falling unemployment.

"But 98,000 people unemployed is far too many given the strong demand for workers," he said.

"While in a dynamic labour market there is some unemployment as people move between jobs, there is clearly a contradiction when we have employers calling out for workers, but there are still nearly 100,000 out of work."

Peter Conway said the answer lies partly in much better targeting of the training needs for the unemployed, and more assistance in the transition to work.

In addition, there is also a significant issue when Maori unemployment, although falling, remains more than three times the rate for Pakeha workers.

"A totally adequate fine for an inexcusable failure to ensure a safe system of work," is how Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson described an $11,000 fine imposed on Downer Construction last week.

"A very conservative decision which disregards the international law on which the Employment Relations Act is based," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.Ross Wilson was commenting on the Employment Court decision in N Z Dairy Workers v N Z Milk Products (Fonterra) which struck down an agreed arrangement between the employer and the union requiring non union members to contribute to the cost of the wage increases and other benefits negotiated on their behalf.

"It seems a fair principle that employees who benefit from the work of the collective bargaining group should contribute to the costs of bargaining," Ross Wilson said.

"Such an agreement has been ruled to be entirely consistent with the International Labour Conventions on which the Employment Relations Act is based."

Ross Wilson said union members were sick of free loaders who picked up the benefits of the union's bargaining work.

"But the Employment Court has identified some technical barriers to giving full effect to the international law jurisprudence in New Zealand," he said.

"More than 300,000 union members will be disappointed by the decision."

The secretary of the Council of Trade Unions has described a
PricewaterhouseCoopers report showing that New Zealand workers receive half
as much training as their Australian counterparts as a 'dire 'warning' to
business.

"Unions are worried by the long list of requests made of New Zealand in the current GATS services negotiations," said CTU secretary Paul Goulter today. "There are requests impacting on almost all services including transport, postal and courier, water, waste disposal, customs, ACC, film, telecommunications and education."

In addition there are requests to remove limits on overseas investment.

"The Government has only released these details a couple of months before the deadline of 31st March," said Paul Goulter.

"That deadline needs to be extended to allow for proper consultation."

Paul Goulter said that a new development was that the Government had set out ten guiding principles, such as a requirement that no initial offer would be made that would limit the government right to provide, fund or regulate public services, such as health and education.

He said unions would need to clarify the impact of these guidelines in terms of their precise effect on the Government's initial offer, as many of the requests appear to be ruled out by the principles.

The CTU is involved in an active union campaign on the services negotiations.

"This involves pressing Government to push out the 31 March date for the initial offer, seeking more precise information on the actual requests, and raising issues of concern for particular sectors that could be disadvantaged," said Paul Goulter.

"Unions will approach Ministers in their sectors and educational material will be produced for union members, explaining the issues for their sectors."