Posts Tagged ‘workers’ rights’

New Zealand, a great place to do business

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, March 10th, 2008 - 42 comments

At 30%, the corporate tax is lower than or equal to most developed countries’. Our GST is only 12.5%, in most developed countries it is 15-25%. The economy has grown every year for a decade Inflation has averaged below 3% for over 20 years Workforce participation is 68%, very high by international standards. ACC provides […]

Key’s Australian excuse

Written By: - Date published: 3:27 pm, March 8th, 2008 - 45 comments

On the 20th of December, John Key was reported in the Bay Report as saying “we would love to see wages drop” while talking to a Kerikeri businesswoman. The story broke nationally three weeks ago and Key offered several, conflicting explanations – he was joking, he was misquoted, he was talking about Australia. The Bay Report stood […]

What we can’t tell you

Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, March 7th, 2008 - 61 comments

There is more to the John Key “we would love to see wages drop” story than you have been able to read in the blogs or the mainstream media. We’ve been in contact with a large number of people who have been connected at various levels of this story as it has developed. Unfortunately, none […]

Free Osanloo

Written By: - Date published: 3:51 pm, March 5th, 2008 - Comments Off on Free Osanloo

The International Transport Workers’ Federation is holding an international day of action tomorrow calling for the release of Mansour Osanloo, an Iranian trade unionist and bus driver imprisoned by the state for engaging in independent trade unionism. Osanloo earned the ire of the Iranian authorities after he led protests that increased bus workers’ pay by […]

Did Key try to get ‘wage drop’ journalist sacked?

Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, March 4th, 2008 - 53 comments

Michael Cullen made an interesting remark in the House today in response to a question on John Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop“. Here’s what Cullen said: I think they would be appalled to learn that the Leader of the Opposition proposed that New Zealand wages should drop, then tried to […]

Talleys in trouble again

Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, February 29th, 2008 - 47 comments

NZPA reports that Hollow Men the Talley brothers have been fined $110,000 after eleven workers at their Blenheim plant were subjected to carbon monoxide poisoning from forklift fumes. The company was found guilty of eleven charges of failing to take all practical steps to ensure employee safety by exposing them to the hazard of carbon […]

How would Key make wages drop?

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 pm, February 28th, 2008 - 51 comments

Having read our coverage of John Key’s ‘we would love to see wages drop‘ line my brother asked ‘but how can a government make wages drop?’ The answer is obvious to those of us who know about this kind of stuff but my brother’s question, along with Colin Espiner’s naïve statement that ‘[a PM] has […]

For the record

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, February 28th, 2008 - 103 comments

Like most of his policy positions John Key’s story on his comment “we would love to see wages drop” just keeps on changing. First he was “misrepresented”, then his comment was “lighthearted”, and now he’s claiming he never said it. Which is it John? In an interview today with Mickey Havoc, Key now denies ever […]

Lucky last

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, February 27th, 2008 - 15 comments

When we published the results of our MP survey on John Key’s “we would love to see wages drop” quote last week, we knew that we would not be getting any more responses. The MPs, especially the National ones, would to told in no uncertain terms not to reply by their media people. But there’s […]

Key’s shameful attack on journalist

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, February 26th, 2008 - 81 comments

One of the more unsavoury aspects of Key’s “we would love wages to drop” saga is the unwarranted attacks by Key and his allies on the journalist who quoted him, Greg Robertson. Key referred to Robertson as some “young guy who was taking notes“. Key said Robertson’s quote was wrong, or that he was joking, […]

Jones to Key: say it to our faces

Written By: - Date published: 3:25 pm, February 25th, 2008 - 23 comments

Far North Labour MP Shane Jones laid down the gauntlet to Key over the ‘we would love to see wages drop‘ scandal. Jones reminds Key that: “all it takes to ruin a Teflon pan is one scratch” and in a second press release lays out his challenge: ‘there’s only one way for Mr Key to […]

Transcript proves Key is lying

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, February 25th, 2008 - 76 comments

When it was revealed that John Key had told a business leader he ‘would love to see wages drop‘ it undermined everything he’d told national media about wanting to lift wages. It also had the potential to do irreparable damage to his rhetoric on tax cuts and to show him as being less than honest […]

The deafening silence

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, February 25th, 2008 - 30 comments

At a meeting in Kerikeri last year with a business leader, in the presence of journalist Greg Robertson, National Leader John Key said ‘we would love to see wages drop‘. When this story broke last week, the political commentators were naturally cautious. It is an extraordinary quote. Not because a National leader would think wages […]

Key incoherent on pay cut plans

Written By: - Date published: 3:02 pm, February 22nd, 2008 - 13 comments

Following the revelation that John Key told a business audience “we would love to see wages drop“, bFM asked him to elaborate [MP3, 3.5MB]: Key: The, look I’ll tell you what the situation was there. We were in a, I know I don’t overtly remember it as part of the DVD tour but it was […]

MPs respond to Key’s wage drop wish

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, February 22nd, 2008 - 30 comments

Following revelations that John Key told a business audience “we would love to see wages drop“, I sent an email to all 91 MPs whose emails addresses are listed on their bio page on the Parliament website. The email read: “John Key is quoted in the Bay Report, 20/12/07, saying “we would love to see […]

The lucky country

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 35 comments

I see the wage-gap is getting another airing on Stuff today, here’s the first few pars: While the gulf between New Zealand and Australian pay packets is narrowing slightly, it’s still a no-contest. Australian full-time workers earned an average of $A1162 ($NZ1350) per week in the year to November, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics […]

On the record

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 43 comments

There are some out there claiming Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop” is out of character. Now I’m always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and we know actions speak louder than words so I thought I’d have a look at Key’s actions. And what actions would speak […]

Bunnings workers strike to close wage gap

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 41 comments

While media, politicians and the Kiwi blogosphere are arguing about the wage gap with Australia, around four hundred NDU members at Bunnings Warehouse are taking matters into their own hands with a two-hour nationwide strike action today. Bunnings workers in New Zealand start on just $12 an hour compared to $19 for their counterparts in […]

Doing the rounds

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, February 21st, 2008 - 17 comments

Looks like John Ansell’s finally got his mojo back. Hat tip: Ant.

Key resorts to “memory lapse” defense

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, February 21st, 2008 - 43 comments

So without Bill to run interference like he did in the House yesterday, John Key has resorted to the age-old “memory lapse” (aka “Don Brash”) defense regarding his statement to Kerikeri Business Association that “we would love to see wages drop”. Key’s use of the memory lapse defense places him in the illustrious company of […]

Key squirms under scrutiny in the House

Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, February 20th, 2008 - 60 comments

Key’s comment that “we would love to see wages drop” to a group of business-people last year has come under increasing scrutiny in the House today. Rather than defend his statement himself, Key sat squirming as English attempted to deflect Cullen’s attack – hardly a good look for the leader of the opposition, getting someone […]

John Key’s plan to cut your pay

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, February 20th, 2008 - 144 comments

“We would love to see wages drop”. You would think that given the simmering debate about our wage gap with Australia at the moment that would be the last thing you’d expect to hear from the leader of the National Party. Especially when he’d gone on record in the national media just a week ago […]

National seeks to stop free speech

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, February 15th, 2008 - 100 comments

Vernon Small reports today that National party blogger David Farrar has taken out a complaint against the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union’s registration as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act. Now aside from the fact that the founder of the Free Speech Coalition is trying to use the very legislation he has so […]

The Dummies’ Guide to National’s wage policy

Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, February 14th, 2008 - 68 comments

I never really understood how National planned to make wages grow because every time our man John Key is asked about our wage-gap with Australia he starts talking about cutting taxes. Here’s a recent example from Morning Report: Key: Firstly we will raise wages. I mean, after-tax wages will be rising under a National government. […]

Say chee$e

Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, February 10th, 2008 - 35 comments

At the supermarket earlier this week I was browsing the aisles and noticed the price of cheese. It seems now that for a kilo of this yellow gold (hold on isn’t gold kinda yellow anyway?) you’ll be paying $16. Now that’s a lot of money for what is pretty much a Kiwi staple but it’s […]

Solution to wage-gap in hands of business

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, February 8th, 2008 - 61 comments

Larger (but still small) numbers of kiwis are leaving for Australia and higher incomes are part of the attraction.  At the same time unemployment here is at a record low, which is good but employers are complaining about a lack of workers.  To keep skilled workers in New Zealand higher wages are needed. The government […]

Unemployment at record low (again)

Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, February 7th, 2008 - 18 comments

From Stuff: Growing numbers of women in the workforce pushed New Zealand’s unemployment rate down to a new record of 3.4 per cent in the December quarter. The rate dropped 0.1 of a percentage point from the September quarter, which itself had been the lowest unemployment rate recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey started […]

Tax cuts and the wage gap

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, February 5th, 2008 - 64 comments

News that 28,000 New Zealanders left for Australia last year has Business NZ, the Chamber of Commerce and the National Party predictably calling for tax cuts as the solution to New Zealand’s wage gap with Australia. Of course, they know very well that tax cuts are not the answer. Workers in Australia currently earn 30% […]

EMA resorts to making stuff up

Written By: - Date published: 5:13 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 7 comments

The Employers and Manufacturers Association has a new employment survey out today that aims to portray personal grievances as “way out of hand” and add momentum to their ongoing campaign with the National Party to remove the right of workers to appeal against unfair dismissal during their first 90 days in a new job. But […]

Damned if you do…

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, January 16th, 2008 - 213 comments

The Herald has an interesting article about shift work posted today pointing out the impact shift work has on workers’ families. The article focuses on bus drivers – who have faced some of the biggest attacks on their conditions over the last 17 years. Auckland Bus driver Jim Kelly puts it thus: I see young […]

National disses minimum wage

Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, December 20th, 2007 - 128 comments

National’s comments on the minimum wage show a party that has no answers on how to close the wage gap with Australia. Just a day after the Government announced plans to increase the minimum wage to $12 next year – an increase of more than 70% since 1999 – John Key’s industrial relations spokesperson Kate […]

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