Unemployment

CTU Economic Bulletin No. 115 : 90-day Fire at Will Period - low road policy without evidence

July 2010

The Prime Minister made a number of claims when he announced the extension of the 90-day trial provisions to all employees. At time of the announcement, the government made a deliberately delayed release of a Department of Labour research report, apparently to support the law change. The research was unbalanced, surveying only 13 employees, but it does not provide evidence for his claims. Instead it provides cause for concern. If you want to read the full report, details are below, but here are highlights. A longer analysis is available on request.

CTU Alternative Economic Strategy

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 Economic Bulletin No. 101

April 2009

Comment

All eyes will be on the Budget at the end of May to see whether or not the Government has not only set out a credible plan for fiscal and economic management, but is also responding with sufficient scale and urgency to the deepening recession. Back in February, the response to the global financial crisis was being viewed as primarily about jobs.

CTU Discussion Document for Employment Summit

Discussion document for the government Jobs Summit 27 February 2009.

CTU Economic Bulletin No. 96

October 2008

Comment

Tough times lie ahead but there is considerable uncertainty about the extent of the impact on the real economy from the global financial crisis. In the midst of this uncertainty we have an election! For workers this highlights the differences between the political parties in terms of worker rights, employment, and security. There have been welcome similarities emerging - for instance on relief for workers made redundant. But when it comes to the crunch - who is it that actually believes in enhancing and protecting workers' incomes, and work rights?

CTU Economic Bulletin No. 58

April, 2005

Comment

Are we on the edge of an oil crisis? No one likes to contemplate such apocalyptic scenarios. But, Colin Campbell (who helped to found the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre was chief geologist for Amoco, a vice-president of Fina, and has worked for BP, Texaco, Shell, ChevronTexaco and Exxon) calculates that about 944 billion barrels of oil has so far been extracted, some 764 billion remains extractable in known fields or reserves, and it is estimated that a further 142 billion remains to be discovered. If he is right then oil production has peaked - but there will be plenty around for quite some time. But if oil production declines steadily at about 2-3% a year, the cost of everything from travel, heating, agriculture, trade, and anything made of plastic rises. And the scramble to control oil resources intensifies. We know what that means!

Ross Wilson Speech on Globalisation to Hui Taumata 2005

Globalisation is not a new phenomenon. As an example, colonialism was, and is, a manifestation of that process. Economic globalisation has been ongoing and is now driven at a faster pace by new technologies and the mobility of international capital.

Back to the 1930's with Brash

Article for DominionPost Business Day by CTU president Ross Wilson, published on February 3, 2003.

National finance spokesman Don Brash's proposal to abolish the dole would be an extraordinarily regressive policy for a political party seeking support from mainstream New Zealanders.