April, 2005

Round-up of economic news, information and issues by CTU economist Peter Conway. Link to CTU Economic Bulletin, April 2005

The Government's decision to fund work-life balance projects in several workplaces will help to develop practical solutions to work-life problems affecting thousands of workers, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

The ANZ bank should stop treating its New Zealand workers like second-class citizens and pay them properly after announcing a $306 million profit from its NZ operation, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Employers must take responsibility to tackle the hidden hazards that leave thousands of workers suffering from occupational disease, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Employers were wrong to blame workers' determination to get a fair pay rise for the drop in business confidence, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.The National Bank's monthly survey showed business confidence had dropped to its lowest level since 2000. It was the 32nd month in a row that confidence was down, despite continuing economic growth.

"The economy is slowing because of the high dollar and high interest rates," Ross Wilson said. "It's got nothing to do with the push by many workers to get a fair share of the growth that businesses have enjoyed for a number of years."

Employers were over-reacting to industrial action taking place in some sectors, as strikes were still at an historically low level.

"There's more than two million workers out there ? a few thousand on strike is less than one per cent."

It was a pity employers couldn't show the same concern about the costs of workplace accidents, he said. "The National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee estimated work-related disease and injury costs the country billions of dollars."

Employers needed to get a grip on the real issues such as improving productivity and health and safety ? and adjust to the reality of reasonable claims for fair pay from their workers, Ross Wilson said.

Changes to stand-down rules for the unemployment benefit will bring a huge relief to thousands of seasonal workers, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.From May 1, benefit applicants will be able to choose an income assessment period of 26 or 52 weeks for the assessment of the initial stand-down. Currently they have to have it assessed only over the last six months of work.

"This has meant that that some seasonal workers have faced a stand-down of two or three months because they had a high income for a short time," Carol Beaumont said. "The rules did not recognise that this was their income for the entire year."

Unions pressed for the change and it would be welcomed by seasonal workers, she said.

"Industries need these valuable workers and this rule change will help to ensure a skilled and reliable workforce is available," Carol Beaumont said.

Involving workers and their unions in an industry can make it more competitive, productive and profitable, according to a new study.

The study The Food and Beverage Sector: A Trade Union Perspective was carried out by researchers at the Centre for Labour and Trade Union Studies at the University of Waikato.

Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson is outraged at the idea that workers should miss out on a pay rise because of the high value of the New Zealand dollar.He said the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce was looking for excuses when it said that export firms were struggling so couldnt afford to pay their workers a fair share.

"How many more excuses are employers going to come up with?" he said. "Our workers have no control over foreign currency fluctuations but at the end of the day theyre expected to carry the can."

Some employers kept raising the bar of excuses for not giving pay rises.

"First they say they're not making enough, then profits rise so they say productivity is still too low to justify pay rises. And now they are blaming the exchange rate."

Ross Wilson said he could not remember employers being generous when the NZ dollar was low. "Wed all be blue in the face if we waited for exporters to pass on their extra profits when the Kiwi dollar is low."

The Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson has called for Government and public support for international sanctions against Burma's military dictatorship, following a meeting with Burmese democratic leaders in Wellington today.

New Zealand must urgently increase its investment in skill and economic development if it is to have a chance against China's growing manufacturing strength.That's the key message Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson has brought home from this month's visit to China as part of a CTU delegation.

"The world has been changed by the emergence of China as a major manufacturing nation, and New Zealand must find a way to compete," Ross Wilson said today. "Paying low wages is not the answer ? if we go down that route, we'll be stuffed. Only by training and encouraging skilled workers, and paying them decently, can our economy survive and grow.

"Let's have the debate and challenge the political parties in election year to present their strategies."

China's GDP grew 9.4 per cent in 2004, and it created some 23 million new jobs every year. Ross Wilson said the only way a small country like New Zealand could compete was at the high end of the market.

"We've got to boost our design and innovation to produce high value products for niche markets," he said.

"Even in that respect China is on our coat-tails. We saw outstanding examples of Chinese manufacturers using innovative and leading edge technologies to produce top quality goods.

"It means investing more in developing a skilled workforce, and paying people fair wages. While we remain a low wage economy, we've got no chance of boosting our productivity or innovation ? and they are the only things that will save us as China's manufacturing becomes more and more efficient."

New Zealand was at a crunch point, Ross Wilson said.

"We either see that the best thing we have going for us is our potential to be smart, quick and to think outside the square, and give working people the encouragement and payment they deserve, or accept that we'll slowly go down the gurgler as our pay scales become more and more third world."

While shifting production off-shore to China might be seen to be a solution for some businesses, it was no solution for the 300,000 New Zealand manufacturing workers or the New Zealand economy, he said.

The Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) was making hollow threats on behalf of metal industry employers, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Employers who resist fair claims for better wages and working conditions by their workers can expect industrial action, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson warned today.

The Green's Bill for flexible working hours would make a huge difference in the work-life balance of thousands of workers with young families, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

More industrial action is on the way unless employers get real about workers claims for a fair share, says Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson. Download The Unionist (pdf, 396kb)

In a speech to the NZ Labour Party Congress yesterday, CTU secretary Carol Beaumont outlined the progress made for working people by the Labour-led Government in partnership with unions.

Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont says the pace of skill development and capital investment must be lifted to improve wages and ensure continued economic and social progress.

The Council of Trade Unions is urging improvements to strengthen a Bill that will help to ensure that people with disabilities get the same employment rights as other workers.Download The Unionist (pdf, 400kb)