Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, August 5th, 2021 - 84 comments
Yesterday Statistics New Zealand announced a dramatic drip in the unemployment rate as well as solid increases in wage rates and average weekly earnings for workers. While the Government celebrated Employers thought it was a crisis.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 30th, 2021 - 28 comments
NZNO members who work in district health boards (DHBs) have voted by clear majority to reject the latest offer in their negotiations with the DHBs, saying it fails to address the chronic and systemic safe staffing issues in a way that would ensure and protect the future of the health system.
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, July 15th, 2021 - 20 comments
Minister Roberston’s recent speech to the Trans Tasman Business Circle sets out both how this government is using the pandemic to reset whole sectors of the economy, and also how it is getting its head around economic and social challenges. The points made were unsurprising, but his intended direction was unclear.
Written By: - Date published: 12:02 pm, June 20th, 2021 - 59 comments
One of the details announced in the budget was funding to explore a ‘social unemployment insurance’ scheme. This scheme has been pushed by the Council of Trade Unions and Business NZ, which will work with the Government in a newly set-up Tripartite Working Party. When we dig into it though, we realise it is no safety net. It’s a parachute that slows our drop, giving us time, before we hit that real net – down so far below.
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, June 2nd, 2021 - 40 comments
Last night the story about Nick Smith’s issues that caused his resignation finally broke, or did it?
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, May 13th, 2021 - 29 comments
Outrage at suggestions that nurses, teachers, social workers, and doctors were not worthy of a pay rise this year has been swift.
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, May 12th, 2021 - 34 comments
Some good news from yesterday. The Government has decided to walk back earlier comments suggesting a wage freeze for teachers and nurses.
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, May 8th, 2021 - 34 comments
Yesterday Minister of Labour Michael Wood led the announcement of a policy that conceivably could do more to address the decline in workers wages and conditions over the past 40 years than anything else tried recently.
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 8th, 2021 - 18 comments
Mindboggling.
Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, May 8th, 2021 - 24 comments
Consistent with how they’ve governed so far, Ardern and Robertson are happy to demand workers sacrifice for the greater good — but asking the rich to do the same is a red line they simply won’t cross.
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, May 6th, 2021 - 45 comments
A few of us on the left have issues with the public service wage freeze announced yesterday. By setting the salary level so low, at $60,000 per annum, the threat is that previous gains for teachers and nurses will be undermined.
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 pm, May 5th, 2021 - 67 comments
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, April 22nd, 2021 - 86 comments
Yesterday was a day where National focussed on dog whistle racism, supported religious extremists and moaned about workers receiving a modest increase in the minimum wage.
Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, March 31st, 2021 - 50 comments
Chris Trotter recently asked the question about why there isn’t more resistance to the degree of inequality that we face in New Zealand. He’s partially right, we do spend an awfully amount of time arguing with each other about matters of smaller and smaller moment while inequality slides downhill from glacier to avalanche. But intersectionalism isn’t the primary cause of activist cooling.
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, March 31st, 2021 - 5 comments
Auckland Council has released the Ports of Auckland Independent Health and Safety Report and the recommendations are damning.
Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, March 26th, 2021 - 12 comments
Private member’s bills are an important feature of Parliament. They give all MPs the chance to change the law to address real or perceived issues and problems. So what does National MP Matt Doocey think is the country’s most pressing problem?
Written By: - Date published: 4:36 pm, March 11th, 2021 - 50 comments
Expecting a bit much aren’t you? We haven’t had that since Muldoon. At least he had them. The kind of people now asking for a plan were those who complained about governments that “interfered with the sacred ‘free market’” and screamed about “central planning”, “picking winners”, “protectionism” etc. They prefer just getting cheap labour to give the illusion of economic growth. And build a cycleway!
Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, February 12th, 2021 - 39 comments
Managed isolation facility cleaners, who the country desperately relies on, are struggling to survive on low wages while performing an absolutely vital role.
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 12th, 2020 - 68 comments
Not a vague let’s raise wages and benefits explanation, but an in-depth, number crunching, evidence-driven explanation. Where is it?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 11th, 2020 - 36 comments
IF the discovery of a potential Covid vaccine looks like a new dawn, let’s not forget that this is the accelerating point of the K-shaped recovery New Zealand have been dreading. Our already rich are on the line heading upwards. They are getting richer because of a range of our Government policies.
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, October 26th, 2020 - 41 comments
Enjoying your weekend? Thank a unionist!
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 am, October 20th, 2020 - 47 comments
The 2020 election was more than just a victory for Labour and more than a crushing defeat for the National Party (New Zealand’s main centre-right political party). This result marks a significant watershed in New Zealand politics which will likely have implications long after this parliamentary term.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, September 24th, 2020 - 100 comments
This is a backpocket election – and that’s where most of Labour’s effort is going as it rightly should.
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, September 17th, 2020 - 16 comments
The Green Party welcome Labour’s commitment to extend the living wage to Government contractors, but will push for Fair Pay Agreements across industries in the next Government so more New Zealanders can earn a dignified income.
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, September 16th, 2020 - 22 comments
Much has rightly been made of the leadership quality of Prime Minister Ardern this year. But the PREFU results announced today shows that Minister of FInance Grant Robertson is by a long way the most effective Minister of Finance we have had since Dr Michael Cullen.
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, September 10th, 2020 - 12 comments
Today’s Checkpoint descended into shroud-waving in the case of a New South Wales family not able to visit their dying father in Queensland because of the strict border closure. As our health officials note, “bereavement issues” are where most care is needed to prevent the virus spread.
Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, August 5th, 2020 - 16 comments
Defying expectations official labour force data from Stats NZ released today shows that the unemployment rate dropped to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in the June quarter.
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 pm, July 27th, 2020 - 19 comments
There is no blueprint for building a stronger more effective trade union movement. There are many, who each and every day wake up and do exactly that.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, July 26th, 2020 - 126 comments
The Greens have released a detailed policy document that sets out what they want to achieve if they are part of the next Government and their Labour Relations policies could be considered to be more pro union than Labour’s policies.
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, July 20th, 2020 - 205 comments
Another Tory MP has quit. This time it’s first term MP Andrew Falloon.
UPDATE: The PM was informed on Friday, but chose to be discreet.
UPDATE: NewsHub are claiming that Falloon sent porn to a schoolgirl.
UPDATE: The victim was a uni student and her age means no offence was committed. Further, Falloon claims it was not him that sent the pic.
Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, July 16th, 2020 - 127 comments
The Auckland Central electorate will elect a new MP in September. The Greens have a responsibility to make sure it’s the Labour candidate.
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