Where are New Zealand unions strongest and where are they weakest? While we often focus on the fall in overall union density (the proportion of wage and salary earners who are union members), underlying that is a very uneven spread of union membership. It’s important to understand this ‘landscape’ of unionism in New Zealand if… Read more »
Read more...Economic Bulletin
The year ahead: unusual times
We’re in unusual times. The economy is growing strongly yet deflation (falling prices) is on the cards. There are still serious problems in other developed economies which are creating great hardship for working people and could bite us through falling demand for New Zealand exports – but also contribute to falling prices. Employment in New… Read more »
Read more...Doing something about low incomes: wages and benefits
The Government is putting poverty on the agenda despite denying that there was a problem during the election campaign. It is difficult to see how it can address poverty without increasing incomes, yet Ministers talk about not “throwing money at the problem”. This matters for working people because it is partly about wages and partly… Read more »
Read more...What’s happening to the self-employed?
Unions and many others are concerned about the development of “dependent contracting” in New Zealand. It is a form of self-employment in which the worker is virtually tied to one employer/contractor and is an employee in all but name and employment rights. This situation is ripe for exploitation and abuse of the worker. Though it… Read more »
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