July, 2004

Unions affiliated to the Council of Trade Unions are meeting today with MFAT officials in Wellington to discuss concerns over the proposed free trade agreement with China.

Unions were worried about the deal's impact on the manufacturing sector as well as labour rights in China, said CTU president Ross Wilson.

"The closer integration of manufacturing between the two countries will see many more examples of manufacturing shifting to China," he said.

"Even where manufacturing in this country has gone into high technology innovations to compete with China, it is hard to protect intellectual property and our designs are often copied."

A free trade agreement would put pressure on remaining tariffs which were already at low levels, and unions were also worried about China dumping goods.

"Unions will also be raising concerns about labour rights in China," Ross Wilson said. "The NZ Government has promised to better integrate trade and labour standards and a deal with China will be a test for that policy."

Child labour, forced labour, discrimination, freedom of association and promotion of collective bargaining are all key labour rights that needed to be addressed in the FTA talks.

"The CTU will be taking an active interest in all aspects of the negotiations including trade in services, investment issues, government procurement, Treaty of Waitangi implications and enforcement."

The door to paid parental leave was still closed to many low-income families who needed support, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

Presenting the CTU submission on the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill, Carol Beaumont told MPs that the eligibility criteria for the scheme needed to be widened.

Improvements to paid parental leave announced earlier this year were welcomed and would allow more women workers to take time off to look after a new baby, but many still missed out, she said.

"The scheme still unfairly excludes women in part-time jobs that are for less than 10 hours a week, and seasonal, short-term or casual workers who don't work continuously for six months for the same employer before the birth."

The CTU also pushed for an increase in the level of payment as the vast majority of workers faced a drop in income when they went on parental leave.

The Pay and Employment Equity Taskforce identified paid parental leave as an employment equity issue, Carol Beaumont said.

"It's time for employers in the public service and public health and education sectors to lead the way and comply with the ILO's maternity leave convention - which would see eligibility widened and payments increase."

The CTU also called for a legislated right to paid breastfeeding breaks and access to breastfeeding facilities upon return to work.

The inflation level is a sign of the growing economy and the Reserve Bank should not overreact and drive down economic growth along with the benefits it can bring, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.

The Prime Minister and other senior Government figures will this evening hear first-hand the concerns of around 150 union delegates in a major cross-union gathering in Dunedin.

Representatives from most of the Council of Trade Union's 34 affiliated unions are meeting with Prime Minister Helen Clark, as well as Parekura Horomia, Paul Swain, Ruth Dyson, Pete Hodgson, David Benson-Pope and Rick Barker.

"The forum is an opportunity for the Prime Minister and other Ministers to talk directly to union members about issues affecting workers - not only in the workplace but also their wider concerns about the economy and society," said CTU secretary Carol Beaumont.

The meeting will break into workshop groups which will discuss specific topics with the relevant Government spokesperson. The workshops will be on the areas of employment relations; work-life balance and pay equity; economic development and industry strategies; and Maori economic development and race relations.

Carol Beaumont said it was important for political leaders to engage with workers about strategies for economic growth which required a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

"Workers want to be a part of the economic growth of this country, and believe that growth needs to include fairness and social development," she said.

"This forum is an opportunity for the Government and unions to talk about how that can be achieved."

Working people are looking to the Government to lead the way to work-life balance, both as an employer and a policy-maker, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

New research shows that New Zealand does not have a high proportion of small firms compared with Australia and other OECD countries - despite claims to the contrary by business lobby groups, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.

Trade unionists are broadcasting a series of programmes in four Pacific languages to help workers understand their workplace rights.

The half-hour programmes will be scheduled in Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan and Tuvaluan. Most will run weekly on the Pacific radio network, Niu FM, over the next six months.

The project has been organised by the Council of Trade Unions.

This week, the first of the series will look at the links between unions and the Pacific communities, said the programme co-ordinator Tuifa'asisina Mea'ole Keil.

"This is an educational and innovative approach in raising awareness of Pacific workers' rights and the labour laws," he said.

Other topics include public sector unionism, health and safety, collective employment agreements, paid parental leave and the rights of young workers, shift workers and contract employees.

"These programmes will help to empower Pacific workers and get them involved in their unions," said Mea'ole Keil, who is the co-convenor of the CTU Komiti Pasefika. "Unions are an important part of our society and it's vital that the voices of Pacific workers are heard."

(Programme schedules are available.)