August, 2004

"Small business employers are taking an unnecessary risk in failing to formalise their employment conditions," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.
The Auckland Chamber of Commerce small business survey has revealed that 65 percent of SME employers do not have written employment agreements for staff.

"As well as being in breach of the law I think it is good practice for employers to have written agreements," Ross Wilson said. "By failing to do so they are increasing the risk of uncertainty and possible disputes."

The survey, and the recent Small Business Advisory Group Report, both revealed a high level of ignorance among small employers about the employment information already available to them through Government funded services, he said.

"A small investment in good information and employment agreements will save these employers from the clutches of the lawyers which they are also complaining about in the survey."

"It is now time for employers to produce hard evidence to support their claims that workers are abusing sick leave under the new Holidays Act," Council of Trade Unions President Ross Wilson said today.

"Business New Zealand's attack on the Employment Court is completely misguided and ill-founded," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.
Business NZ today called for the Employment Court to be replaced because of the time and cost involved in taking cases, and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce yesterday claimed that employers were paying up to resolve conflicts rather than incurring legal costs.

"Neither organisation mentioned that there is a free Government mediation service and an Employment Relations Authority disputes process which doesn't require lawyers," Ross Wilson said.

Even employers had acknowledged that these services were operating extremely well, he said.

"Business NZ is correct in drawing attention to the low level of awards," Ross Wilson said. "The CTU also supports action by the Authority to lift awards to realistic levels."

Employers should be told that they don't need lawyers at mediation or the Authority, and there was certainly no case for attacking the Employment Court because of lawyers fees.

"The reality is that almost all disputes are resolved at mediation or the Authority level and only a very few get to the Court.

"Business seems to be on its old hobby horse, tilting at windmills."

The Maritime Union has swung its national support behind its Auckland
Waterfront Branch in their dispute with Ports of Auckland on the status of
part-time and casual workers.

A report that a growing number of companies have increased overtime levels has significant implications for employees trying to find a balance between work and life, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

Unions are standing up against the misinformation and prejudice of those who deny basic human rights to others solely because of their sexual orientation, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont told MPs today.

The Council of Trade Unions has reacted angrily to the Small Business Advisory Group proposals to make it easier to sack employees and to deprive newly-employed workers of personal grievance rights.

A new report has highlighted areas of lasting social damage that was entrenched by the government policies of the 1990s, says Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson.
The Social Report 2004 has been released by the Ministry of Social Development.

"The report shows a marked improvement in some areas but the entrenched nature of other indicators such as income per capita and adult literacy confirms a lingering legacy of social deficit from the 1990s when economic gains were made at the expense of social improvements," Ross Wilson said.

Other international studies have also drawn attention to the impact of the policies of the past two decades, he said.

"A research report by the Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards several months ago revealed that New Zealand workers suffered a drop of 6.5 per cent in real hourly earnings from 1980 to 2001, the worst performance of the 16 OECD countries in the study."

By contrast, Japanese workers were up 69.4 per cent, UK workers 46.9 per cent, Canadian 39.5 per cent, and Australian 28.8 per cent.

"The Social Report confirms that the economic and social development policies of this Government are working but underlines just how much social damage was done by the neo-liberal experiment."

"Health workers deserve the extra pay and leave that the new Holidays Act gives them," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.
National Health spokesperson Judith Collins has expressed concern about the cost of the Holidays Act for district health boards.

"Ms Collins should explain why she thinks that health workers shouldn't get time and a half for working on statutory holidays," Ross Wilson said. "And she clearly doesn't think they deserve four weeks annual leave in 2007 either.

"On the one hand we have Don Brash saying New Zealand workers aren't getting paid enough and on the other Judith Collins complaining about the cost of health workers."

National was exaggerating the predicted cost to health boards, Ross Wilson said.

Nurses, doctors and other health workers were indispensable parts of the health service and must be paid fairly, he said.

"It was the disastrous health reforms and low wage strategies of the 1990s which resulted in health professionals leaving in droves.

"It now seems likely that National would repeat that if elected to Government next year," Ross Wilson said. "At the very least it is clear that health workers will lose their Holidays Act entitlements, including the four weeks annual leave."

"Judith Collins' attack on the Council of Trade Unions is merely a smokescreen to avoid answering questions raised about the right of health workers to fair pay for working on statutory holidays," CTU president Ross Wilson said today.

In a first for the construction sector, a union and a major employer have agreed on a policy for dealing with drug and alcohol impairment at work, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

A $2,000 fine for an employer who hired an illegal worker and then ripped him off for seven years was pathetic and no deterrent to other employers determined to ignore the law, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

An Auckland bakery owner received the fine after he admitted employing an illegal worker and seriously breaching the Holidays Act.

The public attacks on former Labour Department employee Amokura Panoho are an unacceptable threat to her employment and political rights, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

"The yawning gap between the demand for labour and wage rises is further evidence that strengthening collective bargaining will benefit everybody," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Women returning to work after having a child should have their right to continue breastfeeding protected by law, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today, marking World Breastfeeding Week.

The WTO breakthrough was good news but made only incremental progress towards fair trade, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.
Peter Conway was a member of the New Zealand delegation to the WTO talks in Cancun last year.

"The framework agreement reached in Geneva on the Doha round shows that a multilateral approach is still achievable," he said. "For small countries like New Zealand this approach is preferable to the bi-lateral negotiations developing with Thailand, Chile, Singapore and China."

The agreement reached in Geneva on a process to eliminate export subsidies would benefit commodity exporters in many countries, including New Zealand, Peter Conway said.

"But this small success should not obscure the need to reform the whole WTO process," he said. "The rules on international trade remain tilted against developing countries and issues of vital importance to workers such as core labour standards - which are not even included in the discussions."

A recent report on "A Fair Globalisation" by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation recommended a reform of the multilateral system to make it more transparent, democratic, participatory and accountable.

"The WTO has got a long way to go before it can show that it really is trying to champion fair trade."