The Council of Trade Unions has today released an independent report conducted by economic research company BERL into the validity of sector bargaining. And the findings are clear – there is no economic reason not to implement sector bargaining but many social and individual wellbeing reasons to do so.
CTU President Richard Wagstaff is urging the Government to act, “Modern sector bargaining such as the proposed Fair Pay Agreements will lift the pay and conditions across an entire sector, to ensure working people have access to a fair return of the profits made by business, and stop bad employers undercutting people’s wages.”
“Today we are announcing, together with E tū and First Union, that the sectors where we want to achieve the first Fair Pay Agreements are supermarkets, security, and cleaning.”
Annie Newman, E tū Assistant National Secretary comments “A Fair Pay Agreement brings employers, working people and their unions, together to agree on what is a fair minimum rate of pay for the people working in that industry, how they can access training, and what fair terms and conditions should be. It can also help keep people safe at work by setting appropriate standards across a sector where there is public interest for this. We know our members working in the security and cleaning industries need the benefits of Fair Pay Agreements.”
Dennis Maga, General Secretary, First Union comments “The OECD has made it clear that our current workplace laws have created social and economic woes such as inequality, reduced productivity, undermining of social mobility, the holding back of progress in living standards, and political instability. We must turn this ship around.”
Wagstaff concludes, “Making sure FPAs are brought in and done properly is the single biggest thing this “Wellbeing” Government can do to help fix the problems including income inequality, child poverty, and low productivity that have caused so many problems for so many New Zealanders for too long.”
