The Return of The Unionist

5 February 2010

Welcome back to the Unionist, relaunching as a monthly bulletin.

Let's kick-start 2010 by looking forward to events and issues in the next few weeks and months.

ACC march and rally, Tuesday 16 February, Parliament, Wellington

One of the most infuriating actions of the Government during 2009 was its attack on New Zealand's priceless accident compensation scheme. A sustained campaign of misinformation and questionable accounting culminated in the ACC Bill which will pave the way for privatisation of the scheme. This will be the death knell for universal no-fault accident compensation. If the Government succeeds in destroying ACC it will be back to exorbitant private insurance and wasteful legal action.

Help put a stop to the destruction of one of New Zealand's most vital public assets by turning out at the rally at Parliament on 16 February. Unions, health practitioners, claimants' organisations and ordinary people will be out in force to show the Government that we are totally against the unjustified attack on ACC and the programme of unjust cuts to entitlements. And we will be joined once again by the bikers who took 9,000 people to Parliament in November. They are coming back because they know it's about more than just levies, and because nobody is fooled by the predictable ‘concession' of reducing the planned increase to motorbike charges.

This is the time to show the Government with a big turnout that New Zealand doesn't want to see ACC dismantled and sold off to Australian insurance companies. If you can't go yourself, get your family and friends to go along because the Government's cuts will affect them too. ACC is for all Kiwis. Let's keep it that way.

For more information on how the Government is trying to discredit and dismantle ACC go to fairness.org.nz/ACC .

And check out the CTU's ads which are showing to rugby fans at the Wellington Sevens on the giant screens around the city: www.youtube.com/NZCTU The adverts, featuring the fictional misfortunes of ‘Borat' in his fluorescent mankini, aim to inform revellers about the very real threat to ACC protection from the Government's plans.

Pay Equity - Red Bag Day Thursday 18 February

Red Bag Day, established in 1988, draws national and international attention to the wage disparity between women and men and women of colour. The red bag theme symbolizes how far women are "in the red" with their pay. The Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW) NZ are leading this awareness raising day for the Pay Equity Challenge Coalition.

BPW NZ have a well organised programme for the day in centres from Invercargill to Northland and are selling the red bags at shopping centres. A full list of these activities will be posted at the Coalition website (payequity.wordpress.com).  

Minimum wage campaign continues

The petition to force a referendum on raising the minimum wage has gathered over 100,000 signatures so far. A recent poll by the New Zealand Herald found that 61% of people supported the $15 an hour rate. So that means there are plenty more people to sign the petition yet - there are 350,000 union members alone whose names ought to be on it and the recent pathetic 25c increase from the Government will likely have recruited many more people to the cause.

If you haven't already signed, download a copy from http://www.unite.org.nz/ and circulate it round your workplace, your family, your pub, your favourite café - anywhere you know that supporters of the $15 minimum wage are lurking.

Trouble ahead

The year ahead promises to be filled with many challenges as the Government presses forward with a programme which carries many threats to workers' rights. Despite hints of slight improvement in the economic climate it is also likely that the global financial crisis will continue to affect workers here for some time to come. We all need to be alert to the flawed accounting that will be used to justify anti-worker reaction in the name of boosting fragile business recovery.

Sadly this Government seems encouraged to use the excuse of recession to chip away at workers' rights. There is now a long list of changes on their agenda which will impact on workers - after the wholly unnecessary move of the 90 day fire at will law there is the attack on ACC, rolling back meal breaks legislation, the threat to holiday entitlements, and a review of personal grievance rights. It is hard to see what any of these moves will do to help the country out of recession. Beneath its veneer of middle-ground caution the Government seems happy to revert to antiquated right-wing dogma that believes prosperity is simply created by making workers easier to sack, cheaper to pay for longer hours and less expensive to injure.

Have a look at fairness.org.nz for more information on these issues, and we will keep you up to date with them here at The Unionist.

Health and Safety training

There are now only 600 places left on Health and Safety Reps training courses for the next six months.

Training is focused on the following industry sectors: Agriculture, Construction (especially civil construction), Forestry, Meat processing, Metal manufacturing, Road freight transport, Public Health (especially residential care).

Please go to worksafereps.org.nz/  or call your training coordinator for details:

Pat Bolster - Auckland, Northland and Waikato regions. Phone: 04 385 1334 x821

Helen Mulholland - Rotorua, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson, South Canterbury, Christchurch, Dunedin. Phone: 04 385 1334 x826

Economic Bulletin

Click here (union.org.nz/policy/economicbulletin109) to read CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg's latest Economic Bulletin. This month Bill looks at the Tax Working Group's report on fixing our ‘broken' tax system, the miserly increase in the minimum wage, and his usual snapshot analysis of the nation's economic indicators.

Forthcoming events

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.

If you have received this newsletter in error or no longer wish to receive it, please email fraserp@nzctu.org.nz and we will amend the subscription list.