THE UNIONIST: Privatisation, Out At Work, Wage Drive, Aged Care petition

In 'The Unionist' this week: privatisation plans, Out @ Work, aged care petition, and more from the Work Rights Wage Drive. 

ACC, roads, schools, hospitals – where does it all end?

The growing list of state assets that National wants to privatise is a concern, CTU president Helen Kelly said this week.

“Workers will be worried to hear that National thinks it is okay for private companies to own our hospitals, schools, universities and polytechnics.”

“Their proposal to have toll roads, possibly adding $50 a week to use public roads, will also not help at a time when workers are already facing higher food, petrol and housing costs.”

“National has already said  it will privatise ACC, putting at risk one of the best schemes in the world for the sake of more profit for Australian Insurance companies but it now appears that privatisation is a core policy plank of many of their policies.”  

“Our public services and state assets have been built up by generations of Kiwis.  We saw what happened with the privatisation of rail, and we have seen the bill we have been left with to rebuild a decent rail service.  New Zealand workers don’t support privatisation and these policy announcements will concern them,” Helen Kelly said. 

One of New Zealand's education unions, NZEI Te Riu Roa, said this week that schools' ability to undertake teaching and learning should not be compromised by an outside party such as a private developer.

"The private developer would obviously put profit first which could bring huge uncertainty into education if they pulled out or sold off schools.  In the long term, our children and their learning would be the losers," NZEI President Frances Nelson said.

Ms Nelson says schools and their buildings are at the heart of our communities and one of our most important public assets.  She said while private developers building and owning schools would make the Government's books look good because the capital cost would be borne by the developer, the long term costs to the taxpayer of leasing it back from the developer could be higher. 

Click here for more from the Council of Trade Unions' election campaign Fairness at Work - Worth Voting For

Out @ Work launch awareness campaign 

Unionists and guests joined Out @ Work delegates last Friday night to launch the new CTU Out @ Work pamphlet.

The pamphlet was produced by the CTU Out @ Work council to raise awareness of the employment issues that LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Intersex, Takataapui and Fa’afafine workers) can face and the need to end discrimination based in sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Grant Robertson, former AIDS Foundation trustee and current Labour candidate for Wellington Central spoke on the need to build a society based on inclusion and tolerance.  He congratulated the Council for celebrating diversity with this focus on inclusion and equality in the workplace for all workers.

Visit Out @ Work's webpage for more information about the group: http://union.org.nz/outatwork

Roadshow finishes in Auckland

The Work Rights Wage Drive finishes this afternoon with a mass rally in Auckland's North Shore.

On Wednesday six thousand union members rallied in Manukau as part of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union's campaign to put the issue of stronger work rights and higher wages firmly on the election agenda. 

The rally was the 24th of 25 being held across New Zealand this month and was the largest union rally in more than a decade, with Manukau's TelstraClear Pacific Stadium overflowing beyond capacity.

At Wednesday's rally members voted unanimously to endorse the EPMU's Work Rights Checklist, bringing the total number of union members to have endorsed the document to 14,000 nationwide.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says with the rising cost of living and migration to Australia, work rights and wages are becoming a defining election issue.

"With just one rally to go we've had a massive turnout and huge support for the protection and strengthening of New Zealanders' work rights.

"We're hearing from members right across the country that their wages need to rise for them and their families to enjoy a better way of life, and they know that's just not possible without strong work rights. That's the message our members will be taking out to their families, their whanau, their churches and their communities.

"This is how unions campaign. We are and always have been about working Kiwis standing together to make their lives better, because if workers don't then nobody else will," he said. 

Aged Care Petition - 10,000 Strong And Calling for Safe Staffing

Aged care workers this week presented a petition of over 10,000 people calling on Government to legislate for mandatory staffing levels - to make rest homes and aged care hospitals not only safe places for workers, but also safe places for the elderly.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and the Service and Food Workers Union: Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU) are calling on the Government to put in place minimum staffing levels in residential aged care facilities. Currently there are no minimum staffing level requirements.

“The guidelines for staffing levels currently in place mean our providers are not required to staff facilities at a level that is safe, especially considering the level of care that the elderly need,” Vee Bryce, an experienced caregiver working in a residential aged care facility, said on Wednesday.

“Surely the urgent need for mandatory staffing levels based on what the residents need makes sense. This is about keeping the elderly safe.”

Nurses union CEO Geoff Annals said: “Members tell us everyday how much they love and respect their residents and how deeply it hurts that they can’t deliver the kind of care they want to. Instead of just reacting to every incident that hits the news, a deliberate strategy to ensure older New Zealanders get the care they deserve is long overdue. The only way to ensure that happens is to regulate staffing numbers, address low pay, and provide training and support to the workforce."

Join the Fairness At Work campaign

'Plays of the Week' - a short weekly heads up from the Council of Trade Unions Fairness At Work campaign - continues, with issue five out this Monday.  Plays of the Week has a couple of short bites of information, and details of any union election events happening in your area, so be sure to subscribe to it - you can do so here: www.fairnessatwork.org.nz, and look for the Plays of the Week logo in the top right corner. 

Weekly Events Calendar