employment

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The danger of Key’s low wage economy

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, July 14th, 2009 - 47 comments

As you know, things are tough in the job market at the moment. The firm figures won’t be out until later this month but unemployment has grown by probably well over 50,000 so far this year. The number of the dole has shot from 37,000 in March to 50,000 now and is growing at 1200 a […]

Atlas drops the ball again

Written By: - Date published: 5:48 am, July 1st, 2009 - 104 comments

Why does this myth that the private sector is better persist in this country? At every turn, the bosses show themselves to be a bunch of greedy, short-sighted half-wits. Take Line 7. Outsourced their production to China. Built their business model on the assumption that the NZD would stay high. Didn’t hedge. NZD, predictably, falls.  Business model stuffed. […]

Labour’s labours lost

Written By: - Date published: 5:26 am, June 26th, 2009 - 69 comments

I remember just over a year ago, Helen Clark announcing that the number of people on the unemployment benefit had fallen below 18,000 for the first time in 30 years. The roomful of Labour supporters erupted into applause. Contrary to the crap you hear from righties, Labour top priority is making sure everyone who wants one […]

Asleep at the wheel

Written By: - Date published: 1:14 am, June 24th, 2009 - 25 comments

Yesterday, Goff asked Key for some evidence that his government is doing something to save jobs. Key squirmed and squirmed. Goff: What have the three main ideas that emerged from the Job Summit, and that he promised would save or create thousands of jobs, delivered in actual job numbers? Key: I would say that the […]

Perspective

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, June 16th, 2009 - 71 comments

National’s line is that they are doing ‘everything possible save jobs and keep people in employment’. Are they living up to the promise? Not even close. The other week Paula Bennett was asked in the House how many jobs had been saved by initatives from John Key’s ‘Jobs Summit’. She proudly replied ‘223’, then corrected […]

Productive debate

Written By: - Date published: 1:34 pm, June 9th, 2009 - 23 comments

There was nothing in the Budget for productivity. Education, the foundation of producitivty, was actually cut when you take into account inflation and population growth. There was a bit more for a few more roads but shaving a few minutes of the commute has no effect on productivity. Yet Bill English is very keen for […]

Rhetoric & Reality 2: Jobs

Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, June 4th, 2009 - 7 comments

Before the election National’s “Employment & Workplace Relations” policy set out the principle of “building opportunity for all”, and the need to “Expand job opportunities for those having difficulty getting work -like young, inexperienced people or new immigrants.” The Job Summit talk-fest paid plenty of lip service to the importance of jobs: Key: [Jobs] count […]

The man in the mirror

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 pm, May 29th, 2009 - 28 comments

The Budget is already costing jobs.   AirNZ has announced that it will be cutting flights. 80 jobs will go. The EPMU has said it will fight hard for the jobs. It’ll be tough to save them all.   Why is AirNZ cutting the flights? Not enough passengers. AirNZ was hoping for something for tourism […]

“Confusing and might be taken the wrong way by some”

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 pm, May 21st, 2009 - 50 comments

Duncan Garner had to do a balance piece against David Shearer because he has been at the forefront of covering the implosion of Melissa Lee’s campaign. Garner says someone “deep within” Lee’s campaign pointed him to an interview where Shearer says keeping employment high, particularly among migrant communities is important because when people don’t have […]

Whatever it takes, except anything

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, May 8th, 2009 - 6 comments

A reader has spotted that Hide wasn’t the only minister telling porkies in Parliament yesterday. Fortunately for Bill English, he’s too smart to breach privilege: ‘The Government is concerned about anyone losing their jobs; that is why we will do anything we can to help people to keep secure the jobs they have or to […]

Bad or not too bad?

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, May 7th, 2009 - 24 comments

The latest unemployment figures look better than expected but appearances may be deceptive. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up to 5.0%, lower than expected, but the unadjusted number is 5.6%. There is a seasonal adjustment unemployment usually climbs in the March quarter, then falls later in the year, whether that will happen this year […]

Solution

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, April 23rd, 2009 - 12 comments

Keeping with the topics of the day thus far – Air New Zealand and pay packets – a solution to the Zeal320 dispute occurs to me. There are about 240 flight attendants striking for fairer pay (they want pay parity with flight attendants doing the same job but employed directly by AirNZ eventually but at this […]

The brand cult of Air New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, April 22nd, 2009 - 43 comments

As someone personally involved at the Air New Zealand cabin crew dispute I can tell you it’s been pretty nasty for everyone involved. But what it’s really brought home for everyone has been the seamless (and slightly creepy) way the airline has used its internal communications to reinforce the brand cult of Air New Zealand. […]

High quality government spending

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, April 21st, 2009 - 4 comments

I suppose the Herald means for us to recoil in horror at the headline “$325,000 bill to save 57 jobs” but I’m fine with it. Look at the alternative – 57 families taking a major hit to their incomes, with all the consequences for health, education, crime, and family stability that we know unemployment brings. Think […]

Leaping into inaction

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 12 comments

Cycling is a great way to travel, so it’s great that the government is going to back more cycleways around the country to make the experience safer and more enjoyable for cycle tourists. But the new plan will only see a national network completed in “10-20” years time. That’s not going to help the recession […]

Criticising car corporation charity

Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, April 2nd, 2009 - 19 comments

Here’s why Fickle Cycle is rapidly becoming the best New Zealand blog focussed on international issues: I wasn’t impressed with December’s car industry bail-outs in the US and I’m not any happier with the latest round. I have a fundamental issue with giving money to these corporations whose primary interest is collecting profit. The US […]

Fun with labour productivity

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, March 28th, 2009 - 14 comments

We often hear that labour productivity is not growing fast enough and some argue it should be a focus of government economic policy. Yesterday, for example, Bill English was trying to blame the recession on the average growth in productivity under Labour. However, economists like Brian Easton point out that labour productivity growth is heavily […]

Take responsibility or take the blame

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, March 27th, 2009 - 11 comments

As Minister of Works responding to a disaster in his portfolio, Bob Semple famously said ‘I am responsible but not to blame’. That has become one of our political mores. If they are not personally at fault, ministers shouldn’t have to take the blame when things go wrong but they are responsible for dealing with the […]

Gulp

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, March 26th, 2009 - 35 comments

The Key/English odd couple continue to give us a sweet and sour mix of messages – one with rosy promises that the recession will be over any day and the other issuing dark threats that we can’t have a stimulus package only public service cuts. In the real world there is a real economic disaster going […]

Explaining the recession

Written By: - Date published: 5:06 pm, March 6th, 2009 - 41 comments

The EPMU have released a short film on youtube explaining the recession and their response to it. It features Brian Easton, Gareth Morgan, Pete Conway and EPMU Secretary Andrew Little. It’s sobering viewing.

The Atlases shrug, ‘I dunno’

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, March 4th, 2009 - 14 comments

In the Dom yesterday, Hollow man star Richard Long was full of praise for the Key’s PR team, who managed the Jobs Summit. He was right to praise them, the media lapped it up –  ‘cycleway!’, ‘packed lunches, and no cream for the apple pie, how thrifty!’ (since when did you get get cream, or […]

National’s real rolling maul

Written By: - Date published: 6:16 am, March 3rd, 2009 - 40 comments

You know what we haven’t heard Key talk about in a long time? Closing the wage gap with Australia. Now he’s in power, is he going to do anything about creating a high wage economy? Doesn’t look like it. The truth is Key’s National/ACT Government is undertaking a rolling maul of anti-worker policies that take away our work […]

No, you leave YOUR ideology at the door

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, February 27th, 2009 - 49 comments

There’s all this rubbish at the moment about people moving beyond ideology. At the Jobs Summit, attendees were harangued to ‘leave your ideology at the door’. Everything I’m hearing out of the Summit says they haven’t. The business leaders want weaker work rights, lower tax, and subsidies. The few workers’ representatives that were invited want […]

Re: cycle

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, February 27th, 2009 - 36 comments

According to Stuff: “Another idea on the table [at the Jobs Summit] is a $50 million cycleway built the length of the country. It would provide 3700 jobs and would take two years to build. The government is keen on it for its tourist potential.” A summit attendee writes: “Oh dear. Less than four months […]

Previewing the jobs summit

Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, February 26th, 2009 - 20 comments

Tomorrow, John Key’s much anticipated jobs summit will take place. It’s a big deal, it’s got a logo and everything. Unfortunately, John seems to have left The Standard off the invite list along with all but a few unionists, the unemployed, women’s groups, and any party left of centre. If you’re going to be there, […]

Conferences are wasteful, unless you’re hosting

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, February 26th, 2009 - 16 comments

Lyndon Hood does it again: The National Government has cancelled another conference, with Prime Minister John Key describing it as “a waste of public money at a critical time”. During a line-by-line review of spending by the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mr Key discovered the so-called “Summit on Employment”, which was to be held […]

Being stupid on the economy

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, February 23rd, 2009 - 20 comments

Brian Fallow  has some extraordinarily good analysis of the economic situation in his piece today. Here’s some important passages (and my, unfortunately, extensive comments): “We are really talking about two recessions back to back,” AXA Global Investors chief economist Bevan Graham said. “Last year it was a domestic one, that we needed to have. There […]

A little help

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, January 17th, 2009 - 25 comments

Oddly the Standard hasn’t received its invite to the “job summit” yet. I’m sure this is just an administrative error but just in case it’s not I’d like to offer the National/Act government a few ideas for their consideration. I’ll start with three of my favorites, none of which will surprise regular readers: 1. Home […]