HOLIDAYS, PUBLIC SERVICES, WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER THREAT

June 2010 

HOLIDAYS, PUBLIC SERVICES, WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER THREAT

Holidays under threat - Employers want to cut your holiday and sick pay entitlements 

Employers are trying to persuade the Government to break their promise not to reduce entitlements in the review of the Holidays Act.

The employers are proposing to turn 5 days sick leave into 40 hours of entitlement and to remove the entitlement to a full alternative day’s holiday to only the hours worked, for working on a statutory holiday. This is regardless of whether or not the worker works 40 hours or 60 hours but only to pro rata for workers that work less than 40 per week. This means for example that a worker that works a regular 4x12 hour shift and is sick on one of those days would lose 12 hours sick leave instead of 1 day. The worker would be left with a balance of 28 hours (2 days leave) rather than the 4 days leave entitlement they currently have.

The change to calculate leave entitlements by the hour will reduce entitlements for many workers.

And the Government intends to continue with their policy of allowing the fourth week’s annual leave to be traded for cash.

So what can you do?

·         Get some of your work mates together and arrange a meeting with your local Government Member of Parliament to give them a copy of our letter ‘To whom it may concern’: find your nearest Government MP here

·         Write to the Minister of Labour: Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Labour, contact details here (k.wilkinson@ministers.govt.nz )

·         Write to the Prime Minister: John Key’s contact details here (j.key@ministers.govt.nz)

·         Write a letter to the paper, ring talkback radio, spread the news via emails and Facebook

·         Hand out the ‘Holidays under attack’ leaflet

·         Talk to your union about other activity.

For more information, download the summary and briefing note with examples of how the changes would affect workers in different situations.

Strong Public Services 

The Strong Public Services campaign has been rolling out across the country with public meetings held in Palmerston North (1 June), Christchurch (10 June), and Hamilton (14 June). A fourth meeting will take place in Dunedin on Tuesday 29 June. The meetings are intended to bring together workers in public services (health, education, social services, public administration, local government etc), community organisations with an interest in public services, either as a provider of those services or representatives of service users, and the general public, all of whom have a direct interest in some aspect of public services.

The campaign is drawing attention to the recent cutbacks in the public sector and how they have adversely affected front-line services, contrary to the Government’s claims that they are maintaining them. It is also seeking to defend community and public ownership of public services and oppose privatisation, and raise awareness about the value of public services and the work that public servants do. The three meetings so far have each attracted  up to 150 people representing unions and local community groups. A common theme which has emerged in discussion is how – and how much – public services are valued by the community, and the Government (or not as the case may be). 

For further information about the Dunedin meeting on Tuesday 29 June contact Jenny McCullum at Unions Otago: Phone 03 477 6578 or 0800 800 958 JennyM@nzno.org.nz   

Welfare Working Group seminar

Several unionists attended a forum on 9-10 June hosted by the Welfare Working Group which has been set up by the Minister of Social Development to review New Zealand’s levels of benefit dependency and the structure of the benefit system amongst other things. The two days of plenary and workshop type sessions left limited time to contribute ideas and experiences, frustrating many attendees. It seemed as though the objective of the two days was to be a listening exercise, which didn’t please many.  

It cannot be said, however, that the case for benefit reform was made, with some pretty strong challenges issued to the Welfare Working Group. A strong theme emerged that in order to address concerns about unemployment the focus needs to be on decent work, decent wages, training and skills, job creation and good, accessible child care.   

Almost all of the presentations from the two days are available at the Welfare Working group web site:  http://ips.ac.nz/WelfareWorkingGroup/Forum.html We would highly recommend Sue Bradford’s speech: http://ips.ac.nz/WelfareWorkingGroup/Downloads/Sue-Bradford-Future-proofing-the-welfare-system.pdf 

A web site has been developed called Welfare Watch as “a place for progressives to monitor and discuss the activities and ideas of the Welfare Working Group”.  See http://welfarewatch.org.nz/  

Radio Labour – ITUC World Congress 

The Second World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation - the ITUC - will be held in Vancouver, Canada from Monday June 21 to Friday June 25.

RadioLabour will provide daily reports directly from the Congress floor. It will also conduct an online forum where you can participate in discussions about the Congress and the issues facing the international labour movement.

The daily reports will be available on:

·         The RadioLabour website  www.radiolabour.net

·         Facebook (search for "radiolabour")

·         iTunes (search for "radiolabour5")

·         and RSS feeds.

There will also be up-to-date news bulletins on Twitter (follow: "radiolabour"). The daily reports will feature news about the issues the ITUC is addressing, results of the elections, interviews with labour leaders from all around the world, and more. The special forum about the ITUC Congress will be held on RadioLabour's forum system "Akcio". Participants from around the world will be able to discuss the issues, ask for specialized information from delegates attending the conference, and more.

To participate in the RadioLabour forum you must register here: http://www.akcio-dev.net/createMember

Workers Educational Association – Wellington events 

LUNCHTIME “LOCAL ISSUES” FORUMS –  

Mondays 12:10  – 1:00 p.m. , First Floor Anvil House, 138 Wakefield St. [opp. Michael Fowler Centre], Wellington. A Monday lunchtimes series on issues that are likely to arise in the lead up to the City Council elections – every Monday till August 16^th.

“BLESSED ARE THE WORKERS!” - Saturday 3^rd July, 9.30 a.m.-4.00 p.m., Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace (off Hill St) Thorndon.  A seminar bringing workers and churches together for sharing information and experiences, discussion and possibly also some follow-up activity planning. There will also be some live union music.

Labour History Group: Notice of Annual General Meeting 

Tuesday 13 July 2010, 5.30 pm, mezzanine floor meeting room, Central Library, Victoria Street, Wellington. Apologies should be sent to Mark Derby at markderby@paradise.net.nz

Click here union.org.nz/event/ for further information about events of interest over the next month.

Current vacancies 

Click here (union.org.nz/union-vacancies) for a list of current vacancies within New Zealand unions.