An admission today [6] from Rural Contractors New Zealand that the industry is discriminating against New Zealand workers strengthens the need for the development of a comprehensive workforce strategy in the horticulture and viticulture industry, Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said today.

On September 15 2008 the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions together with the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma held an exhibition in Wellington (NZ) on Burma to mark the first anniversary of the Saffron Revolution.  Development of the exhibition was funde

“Calls by wine industry employers [11] for even more government support to help them train Pacific workers to do the low paid jobs they offer are outrageous, in the light of recent stories of the appalling treatment of these workers,” Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said today.

The Council of Trade Unions today joined international unions in calling for an end to the intimidation and oppression of union and democracy campaigners in Zimbabwe, as conditions in the country worsened.

The President of the CTU Helen Kelly and the Director of the New Zealand Office of the National Council for the Union of Burma, Naing Ko Ko today jointly called on New Zealanders to give generously to Burma cyclone relief.

“South African dock workers should be congratulated for preventing arms getting to the Mugabe regime and their stand shows the crucial role unions play internationally in protecting human rights,” CTU president Helen Kelly said today.

The Council of Trade Unions has backed the campaign by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) to free an Iranian unionist and bus driver jailed for standing up for worker and union rights.

“In voting out the Howard government, Australian workers and their families sent a strong signal that their rights at work are not up for grabs,” CTU president Helen Kelly said today.

“The brave act of people power on the streets of Burma gives hope for democracy in Burma, but their efforts must be supported by the global community,” Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

The Council of Trade Unions is marking the birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with a screening in Wellington tonight of the recent documentary Burma’s Secret War.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was democratically elected as Prime Minister of Burma in the early 1990s but remains under house arrest.  Her home detention was recently extended for a further year by the military dictatorship.