workers’ rights

Making sense of the (un)employment stats: Census 2013

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:22 am, December 12th, 2013 - 22 comments

A Statistics NZ Census quick stats page is both useful and puzzling. Nearly a 3rd of adults are not in the “labour force”, unemployment stats mask true unemployment, the young and low income women particularly are struggling, distorted occupation categories, and more….. [Update: Occupation categories]

The value of Sick Leave

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 7:35 am, December 6th, 2013 - 109 comments

Business NZ says sick leave costs us $1.26 billion per year.  Some might say that illness costs us more than that, and that’s business paying their share, to look after their employees which will benefit the business in the long run.

Census 2013: glossing over the divides

Written By: karol - Date published: 12:21 pm, December 3rd, 2013 - 18 comments

The 2013 census data is being revealed.  The initial information is presented in Stats NZ’s package, with some curious slants/biases: e.g. on income, occupations and housing.  What else do the stats reveal? [Update: Stats NZ on income]

The right thing to do

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:59 pm, November 19th, 2013 - 23 comments

David Cunliffe has pledged that the next Labour government will pay the court-ordered compensation owed to the families of the disaster’s victims, and will then recover the money from Pike’s shareholders. As he succinctly puts it – this is the right thing to do.

Key refuses to pay compensation for Pike River

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 6:53 am, November 16th, 2013 - 120 comments

John Key this week ruled out any Government contribution to compensation ordered to be paid by Pike River to the deceased miners’ families despite a strong suggestion by Judge Farrish that this should occur.  Now that the photo opportunities have finished and the effect of the corporate PR spin has worn off the Government’s handling of the issue appears to be deeply cynical and totally unjust.

English says higher wages mean better results

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 9:01 am, November 7th, 2013 - 52 comments

National’s been working hard to keep wages down for the 5 years. They’ve weakened union laws, introduced fire at will, opposed $15 minimum wage and the living wage. And it’s worked: 46% of workers got no raise last year, another 18% got less than a 2% raise. 5 years ago, 59% got a raise above 2%. Strangely, though, English says high wages are good for the economy.

Sir Edmund Thomas: “Reducing Inequality” – new ‘Values’

Written By: karol - Date published: 5:48 pm, November 6th, 2013 - 29 comments

Sir Edmund Thomas’s recent Bruce Jesson Lecture is now online.  He argues for a need to reduce inequalities, via a change in values away from those directed by “neoliberal” economics, & for a struggle from “below”.  Is this intended to soften capitalism & not replace it?

The anti-democrats NZ tea party

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:10 am, October 30th, 2013 - 82 comments

From the ranks of those working in the murky depths of dirty, disgusting and despicable politics, comes a piss take of a “union” of “taxpayers”, to lobby against a fair, democratic, caring and inclusive state and for the already greedy and powerful.

Outsourcing poverty: Paula Bennett’s shame

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:30 am, October 29th, 2013 - 51 comments

A charity is taking on the funding of the essential work on monitoring poverty, in the face of Paula Bennett, Bill English and John Key et al failing to do their job: a return to Dickensian & Edwardian times.

Is society collapse and inequality linked?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:34 am, October 27th, 2013 - 61 comments

US mathematician Peter Turchin believes that mathematics can predict events such as the recent constitutional crisis in America and has constructed a model based on social and economic data that he believes predicts periods of instability and disaster for nations.  This work shows the negative side of inequality and neatly compliments the work of Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in the Spirit Level that showed the benefits of increased equality.

Storm. Thoughts for those at the centre.

Written By: karol - Date published: 6:01 pm, October 14th, 2013 - 32 comments

Things are appearing to be quite bad in the south and in Wellington, with worse to come.

From “Cost-based to Value-based”

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:34 am, October 10th, 2013 - 8 comments

Cunliffe’s CTU speech is significant, rousing and inspiring, laying out a shift “from a cost-based to a value-based” strategy- for an inclusive society and one that provides a good life for “all” Kiwis, with opportunities for all. Video of the speech is a must see. And social security? [Update: Gordon Campbell] & Turei’s speech

Insecure work in NZ’s precariat

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:48 am, October 9th, 2013 - 108 comments

A recent study gives a strong indication of the extent of, and the recent increases in, insecure work in NZ.  It is being released at the CTU conference today, along with the launch of  a campaign to improve worker security. [Update: Cunliffe to CTU on Labour pledges]

Your Brighter Future: Burn.

Written By: Bill - Date published: 1:13 pm, October 2nd, 2013 - 15 comments

“I just utter one fear…”

Remember that?

The cleaner & the ugly face of National

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:05 am, September 27th, 2013 - 164 comments

Imagine that your job was to clean 130 toilets every day. Imagine the grinding unpleasantness of it. Imagine the horrors some disgusting person would regularly leave for you to deal with. Imagine you do that for just above the minimum wage, barely enough to support your family, far from enough to live a real life. And imagine seeing one of the people whose shit you clean sneer at you.