workers’ rights

Categories under workers’ rights

health and safety (156)
unemployment (251)
Unions (427)
wages (502)

National Council of Women open letter to John Key

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:30 am, April 23rd, 2015 - 28 comments

The text of an open letter from the National Council of Women to John Key about his treatment of waitresses.

International laughing stock

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:49 am, April 23rd, 2015 - 72 comments

John Key has finally achieved the world fame he has clearly always wanted, but not in a good way. Here’s a roundup of the international coverage of his harassment.

Reaction to harassed waitress story

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:30 pm, April 22nd, 2015 - 183 comments

Some of the reaction from Twitter.

My Little Ponytail

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 9:49 am, April 22nd, 2015 - 407 comments

A really strange story has appeared on The Daily Blog. It claims to be a first person account of PM John Key regularly physically harrassing a staff member in his local cafe over the summer. While it may be much ado about nothing, the Prime Minister really should tell NZ his side of the story. Or resign if it’s true.

Update: It’s true. Key’s office has confirmed the harassment.

Attack on Unite

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:38 am, April 17th, 2015 - 48 comments

“Unite Union’s office robbed, trashed”. WTF?

Michael Woodhouse: a fool or a liar?

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 14th, 2015 - 88 comments

When the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety doesn’t know the first thing about his portfolio, there’s only one option left: he’s lying.

Dear Maccas, Burger King and Wendys, about those zero hour contracts

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:56 pm, April 10th, 2015 - 11 comments

Following its success in persuading Restaurant Brands to do away with zero hour contracts Unite Union has set up a webpage where people can email these organisations.

Restaurant Brands to end zero hour contracts

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:36 am, April 9th, 2015 - 15 comments

Unite has achieved a significant victory by persuading Restaurant Brands to do away with zero hour contracts and to guarantee minimum working hours for staff.

Victory for the workers at Cotton On

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:00 pm, April 1st, 2015 - 29 comments

FIRST Union has announced the ratification of the first ever collective agreement for workers at Cotton On.

Woodhouse: tough on bad employers?

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 3:30 pm, March 26th, 2015 - 22 comments

Michael Woodhouse is talking tough on bad employers … but what does it really mean, coming from this government?

Kiwis Stand Up To Corporate Bully

Written By: BLiP - Date published: 8:00 am, March 25th, 2015 - 14 comments

Cotton On’s act of provocation is matched in its cynicism only by the company’s contempt for the negotiation process. While attempting to feign an understanding of how the new law actually works, Cotton On simultaneously may also have breached the newly amended sections 4 and 32 of the ERA

On poverty, parenting, and Paula

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 1:00 pm, March 24th, 2015 - 67 comments

In times of trouble for the National Party, you can always rely on them to raise the rallying cry of “Personal responsibility!!!”

Cottoning on to new ways of exploiting workers

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 8:30 am, March 24th, 2015 - 67 comments

Cotton On has become the first employer in the news for trying to take away its workers’ rest breaks.

The rich want to hide their wealth because of kidnap threats

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, March 22nd, 2015 - 173 comments

The Liberal National Party Coalition in Australia want to overturn a requirement for corporations with a turnover of $100 million to disclose tax information on the grounds that kidnapping will occur even though the rich’s ostentatiousness is plain to see without the information being published. And in America it has been estimated that Wall Street’s bonus pool is twice the amount paid to full time American employees living on the minimum wage.

The “Brighter future”.

Written By: KJT - Date published: 10:36 am, March 21st, 2015 - 34 comments

Labour, in 1984, with Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas, promised that if we adopted their prescription we would have a “Brighter Future”. Ruth Richardson in the 90’s promised a “Brighter Future”. Again in 2014 John Key’s National promises a “Brighter Future”.

A “Brighter Future”. For whom?

International travel perks for the people who got us into this mess?

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 8:30 am, March 16th, 2015 - 81 comments

The blogosphere leads the way in breaking a story about yet another sack of cash for MPs …

Gender pay gap still growing – of course

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:18 pm, March 7th, 2015 - 42 comments

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. In New Zealand the gender pay gap is growing – perhaps because National abolished the Department of Labour’s Pay and Employment Equity Unit.

Anti TPPA Rallies this Saturday

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:00 pm, March 6th, 2015 - 11 comments

For details of protest action nearest to you check out the itsourfuture website.

Dita de Boni on zero-hour contracts

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:30 pm, March 6th, 2015 - 7 comments

When Michael Woodhouse and the bosses’ lobby are talking about “workplace flexibility”, you know who’s flexing their muscles.

What has Michael Woodhouse actually got right about employment relations?

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 9:30 am, March 5th, 2015 - 17 comments

For someone responsible for managing employment relations in New Zealand, Michael Woodhouse doesn’t seem to understand what “employment relations” means.

Expect more zero-hours crisis cases

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, March 5th, 2015 - 8 comments

Today is not a good day for workers. Employment law changes that take effect today weaken workers’ rights and will result in more cases of zero-hour contract “excesses”. Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway has been doing good work on this issue (sign the petition). In contrast National’s position now appears confused, with Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse acknowledging problems even as today’s changes make matters worse.

Nats getting squeamish on zero hour contracts

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:14 am, March 4th, 2015 - 61 comments

Zero hour contracts are the logical end point of National’s agenda for employment legislation. But last night Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse promised legislation to “prohibit the worst excesses”. “Excesses” in the free market – who would have thought?

Dim-Post on that $168k cake story

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:07 pm, March 3rd, 2015 - 80 comments

Danyl at the Dim-Post has looked more closely at the decision to award a worker $168k over a cake and a Facebook post – and what it tells us about National’s employment law reforms.

Key folds on pay rises

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:41 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 82 comments

Key has folded on MPs’ pay rises. Vernon Small and others are covering events on Twitter.

Brassneck

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 12:21 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 64 comments

The release of the candidate donation returns has shown us that the National Party are still rorting the system. However, there are issues for the NZ Labour Party as well. Four MP’s have taken money from sources that do not have the interests of the Labour party or, indeed, the majority of Kiwis at heart. Brassneck or bought and sold?

Andrew Little; leadership, loyalty and lasting the distance.

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 1:19 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 64 comments

Its 100 days since the NZ Labour Party elected Andrew Little as its leader. What an inspired decision that has turned out to be! Little has galvanised the party, united the caucus and looks set to be the next PM. How has he turned Labour around?

The Continuing Fight for Justice at Pike River

Written By: Helen Kelly - Date published: 4:16 pm, February 25th, 2015 - 7 comments

Yesterday the families lost only a small bit of the battle for justice at Pike in an application to get some of the documentation on the Peter Whittall decision. It is clear from the decision that the process of filing itself caused MBIE to agree to release a number of the key documents.

The right to strike

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 12:00 pm, February 17th, 2015 - 54 comments

Celebrate International Right to Strike Day on 18 February by sending a message to Kiwi employers: stop undermining our right to strike!

Labour takes a stand against zero-hour contracts

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 5:00 pm, February 12th, 2015 - 92 comments

Zero-hour contracts are the perfect illustration of when “flexibility” in employment relations goes all one way.

The lie about productivity and wages

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 12:30 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 49 comments

The Productivity Commission has a new report out which looks at changes in the labour income share, or LIS, from 1978 to 2010. The labour income share is described in the report’s summary as: The labour income share (LIS) measures the split of national income between workers who supply labour and the owners of capital. […]