International
CTU Alternative Economic Strategy
Submitted by Communications on 30 October, 2009 - 16:09.The CTU launched a national debate on how to create an economy that works for everyone at their Biennial Conference today (22 October 2009) in Wellington.
CTU Submission on a Proposed New Zealand-India Free Trade Agreement
Submitted by Editor Policy on 11 June, 2009 - 16:32.Click here to download a full version of the submission (MS Word, 306k)
CTU Economic Bulletin No. 100
Submitted by Editor Policy on 2 April, 2009 - 08:55.March 2009
Comment
This is my 100th Bulletin. It is not quite my last. Our new economist takes over in May. I have found over the years that unionists value a statistical update that focuses on the measures that matter to them. Of course statistics can be misused. And sometimes a statistic can be accurate but still mislead without other details to round out the story. For instance, China has surpassed the USA as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases but per capita emissions in the USA are 6 times that of China. And one I often remind people of is that while it is true that in New Zealand, 97 percent of enterprises employ 19 or fewer people, the other 3 percent of enterprises employ 69 percent of the workforce and 68 percent of enterprises employ no-one at all. It is also relevant that around 96 percent of Australian firms employ fewer than 20 workers.
CTU Submission to the International Treaty Examination of the New Zealand- China Free Trade Agreement
Submitted by Editor Policy on 15 May, 2008 - 11:04.Submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committe, May 2008
Click here to download a printable version of the submission (MS Word 268k)
Summary
The CTU has consistently raised the risks of a free trade agreement with China. However we have also recognised that the overwhelming majority of the countries in the world are negotiating free trade agreements and already some 2000 have been signed.
The CTU is opposed to a neo liberal approach to free trade that seeks to break down any barriers to the unfettered access by multinational corporations to land, resources, workers, culture, plant life and so on. We oppose a globalisation agenda that treats labour as a commodity, weakens food security and prohibits nations from controlling their economies in the interests of their people.
CTU Submission to the Inquiry on New Zealand's Relationship with South Pacific Countries
Submitted by Editor Policy on 7 November, 2007 - 14:47.Submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee, May 2007
CTU Submission on the Immigration Bill 2007
Submitted by Editor Policy on 7 November, 2007 - 14:42.Submission to the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committe, October 2007
Carol Beaumont speech to ILO Asia Regional Meeting, Korea
Submitted by Anonymous on 4 September, 2006 - 16:07.Statement to ILO Standards Committee on ACTU Case
Submitted by Anonymous on 4 July, 2006 - 03:26.Statement by CTU president to the International Labour Organisation Committee on the Application of Standards relating to breaches by the Federal Government of Australia of Conventions 87 & 98
Ross Wilson speech to Wellington Rotary Club 30th May 2005
Submitted by Communications on 31 May, 2005 - 00:00.The Challenge of China: transforming New Zealand
I welcome the opportunity to speak to such an eminent group of business , professional and public service leaders. Some of you may recall that I last spoke here quite a few years ago on the initiative of my late friend Bernie Knowles who was then a member of the Club.
The Australasian labour market: in an Asian Context
Submitted by Communications on 10 May, 2005 - 00:00.CTU president Ross Wilsons speech to the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum, 29-30 April 2005.
The starting point for what I want to say is to put labour market issues in the context of the fact that Australia and New Zealand have a closer economic partnership, have been exploring a range of harmonisation proposals, and are both involved in significant FTA negotiations with China and in an ASEAN-plus context.