September, 2004

The funding increase for modern apprenticeships and industry training would help to tackle the critical skill shortage but needed to be on-going to ensure sustainable economic growth, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

"The bullying allegations at Cambridge High School should not be swept under the carpet," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Teachers who have taught at Cambridge High School are calling for a report on bullying at the school to be made public. They say the truth needs to come out, and have asked Education Minister Trevor Mallard to publish the investigation by Dame Augusta Wallace.

Bullying was an emerging health and safety issue in many workplaces, Ross Wilson said.

"It is sending completely the wrong signal if the report by Dame Augusta is suppressed along with the concerns of victims of the alleged bullying.

"If Dame Augusta is prevented from completing her work then OSH should discharge its statutory responsibility and investigate the allegations."

This week, The Unionist reports on the CTUs work on behalf of asbestos victims to ensure that they get fair compensation under ACC.

The Unionist is a weekly newsletter from the CTU, including a diary of meetings and events.

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"The Council of Trade Unions will take up with Government the inadequacy of compensation for asbestos victims," CTU president Ross Wilson said today.

"The James Hardie inquiry in Australia has raised serious questions about the adequacy of compensation under ACC in New Zealand for victims of asbestos and other occupational diseases," he said.

If ACC succeeded in its appeal in the Lehmann case to deny asbestos victims of lump sum compensation, the ACC scheme would not meet the international minimum standards required by International Labour Organisation Convention 42.

"The ACC scheme then becomes nothing more than a shield to protect companies like James Hardie from common law liability for damages."

Even if the Lehmann decision was confirmed, the Australian awards being discussed highlighted the relatively low level of lump sum compensation under ACC.

"It is unacceptable for ACC to breach international legal requirements by denying asbestos victims fair compensation."

There were also issues which arose out of the failure of Government agencies to implement recommendations of the report of the 1991 Asbestos Advisory Committee, Ross Wilson said.

The Council of Trade Unions is calling on employers to urgently address, on an industry basis, the skills drain to Australia, CTU president Ross Wilson said today.

The latest reports show an increase of 4,000 in the migration loss to Australia for the past year, and media reports indicate that construction workers can double their wages by crossing the Tasman.

"Urgent steps must be taken to attract skilled Kiwis back," Ross Wilson said. "And a fundamental part of any strategy must be to improve wages and conditions of employment here on an industry basis."

Even Don Brash acknowledged that the average 25 per cent pay gap between Australia and New Zealand must be addressed if we were to keep skilled New Zealanders.

"It is time to stop talking and do something about this growing crisis which is already slowing economic development in New Zealand," Ross Wilson said.

"The Council of Trade Unions is calling on members to support the young UNITE union members at Reading Cinemas in Wellington in their fight to get a fair deal from their Australian-based employer," CTU president Ross Wilson said today.

Unions would be happy to lead the way in helping to choose providers for the proposed work-based superannuation scheme, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.

Employers have failed to produce any evidence of widespread abuse of sick leave, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson told MPs today.

The CTU urged the select committee considering the Holidays Amendment Bill to discharge the Bill after a number of submissions from the business sector failed to support it.

"Six fatal work accidents in as many days should shake the compliance cost mentality of even the hardest employer," Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

The spate of workplace accidents occurred in several incidents around the country over the past week.

"It is time business leaders stopped trivialising health and safety laws as compliance costs," Ross Wilson said. "The message they are sending is that safety laws are an unfair compliance cost on employers, and that New Zealand workplaces are safe enough.

"And that gives a licence to poor employers not to do anything about health and safety protection for workers."

It was time for a consistent message, from political, business and union leaders, that the present appalling death toll was not good enough and that urgent action must be taken by employers and workers to clean up unsafe workplaces, Ross Wilson said.

"The 'Harris' Report on Workplace Savings has made some innovative recommendations to address low levels of savings and high levels of debt," Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said today.

In committing the National Party to repeal the Employment Relations Bill, its leader Don Brash is clearly saying 'don't vote for me if you want fairness at work', Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

The select committee report on the amendments to the Employment Relations Act is expected to reflect wide consensus over proposals which "fine-tune" the law, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson today called on district health boards to stop public posturing and return to negotiations with the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

The Council of Trade Unions is backing strike action by Auckland watersiders against casual and part-time work in favour of secure, permanent jobs, CTU president Ross Wilson said today.

Wages, conditions and job security in horticulture must improve if the industry and Government are serious about attracting New Zealand workers, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

A free trade agreement with China puts thousands of manufacturing jobs, and the future of the sector, at risk, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Speaking at the Gateway to China trade summit in Auckland today, Ross Wilson acknowledged that an FTA with China may open up big opportunities in the primary production and processing sector.

But he warned that it was important not to "talk up" these potential gains while "talking down" the loss to manufacturing.

"FTA enthusiasts may argue that if the benefits exceed the costs, then those who suffer as a consequence should be given transitional assistance or time to adjust," he said. "But that approach accepts that New Zealand does not have a serious future in general manufacturing."

Unions were also concerned that the Government included labour rights for Chinese workers in the free trade agreement, Ross Wilson told the conference.