THE UNIONIST: CTU campaign takes gold and silver, job security, the economy

In The Unionist this week: the CTU's online campaign takes gold and silver, unions respond to political parties job security plans, and CTU releases discussion paper on the economy.

Election 08: Fairness at Work online campaign wins gold and silver! 

The second installment of the CTU’s online election trilogy hit the net this week, with one more due before election day.  The latest one is a must-see for Middle Earth fans…

And the online part of the CTU's campaign hasn't gone unnoticed, it featured on TV3's Sunrise programme last week, and has today taken the gold and silver trophies in a New Zealand Herald online feature on online election campaigning!

You can see all the action here: http://nz.youtube.com/nzctu.

Support for workers in a slowing economy

The Council of Trade Unions today called for a combination of the job transition proposals announced by the two main parties.

CTU president Helen Kelly said today that both had merits, and a combination of the two packages would be the best outcome to ensure workers don’t unfairly bear the brunt of a slowing economy.

“We welcome the commitments this week from a number of parties to support workers affected by an economic downturn."

“Labour’s job search allowance and proposed minimum redundancy standards will help to soften the immediate blow, and retraining allowances will help workers boost their skills.  Labour’s ongoing commitment to workers’ rights when they are unfairly dismissed will also protect workers moving into new jobs.”

“And National has correctly addressed a concern that many workers in receipt of Working for Families in-work payments will suddenly experience a big income reduction at a time of extreme need and in times of high distress.”

“We think the best outcome is to combine the two policies.  A Labour led government should address the in-work tax credit issues the CTU and others have raised, and a National led government should look at minimum redundancy standards, drop its proposal to remove unfair dismissal protection and provide more support for retraining.”

“We still think National needs to shelve their policy of removing unfair dismal laws for the first 90 days for a worker in small businesses,” Helen Kelly said.

“This is unfair at the best of times, but will just cause additional anxiety for people moving between jobs in the current economic conditions, and may act to discourage workers from taking jobs in small firms." 

Click here to hear CTU economist discuss unemployment issues on Radio NZ's Nine to Noon today (or click here to download the podcast).

CTU delivers suggestions for the economy

The Council of Trade Unions has this week released a paper on what should be done to support workers, firms and communities during the global financial crisis which is starting to impact on the real economy.

The paper, for discussion among CTU affiliated unions but released more widely as a contribution to the current debate, makes a number of suggestions on infrastructure, skills, industry strategies, support for redundant workers, productivity, support for NZ producers and manufacturers, provisional tax, depreciation, and trade.

The paper notes that any infrastructure spending will need to have a broad impact across the whole labour market including the service sector. The CTU also proposes a skills and education fund as another way to bring forward investment in people, and suggests that a condition of any future wholesale bank deposit guarantee should be that banks commit to a review of bank lending practices.

Multimedia: Click here to listen to CTU president Helen Kelly discuss the paper on Radio NZ's Morning Report today (or download the podcast here), and click here to   Click here to see Peter Conway discuss the paper on TV3's Sunrise programme.  TVNZ Breakfast also spoke with the CTU (clip not online yet). 

Meanwhile CTU Economist Peter Conway's economic bulletin today discusses the economy and the election:

Tough times lie ahead but there is considerable uncertainty about the extent of the impact on the real economy from the global financial crisis. In the midst of this uncertainty we have an election! For workers this highlights the differences between the political parties in terms of worker rights, employment, and security. There have been welcome similarities emerging - for instance on relief for workers made redundant. But when it comes to the crunch - who is it that actually believes in enhancing and protecting workers' incomes, and work rights?   Click here for the full bulletin.

Election 2008 events - in the week ahead.

 

Next week is the final week of the election campaign, and of course the most important event is you and your friends and family voting next Saturday!  There are also a number of meet-the-candidate meetings next week: click here for full details.