Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, March 26th, 2015 - 22 comments
Michael Woodhouse is talking tough on bad employers … but what does it really mean, coming from this government?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, March 24th, 2015 - 67 comments
Cotton On has become the first employer in the news for trying to take away its workers’ rest breaks.
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, March 21st, 2015 - 34 comments
Labour, in 1984, with Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas, promised that if we adopted their prescription we would have a “Brighter Future”. Ruth Richardson in the 90’s promised a “Brighter Future”. Again in 2014 John Key’s National promises a “Brighter Future”.
A “Brighter Future”. For whom?
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, March 20th, 2015 - 42 comments
One of National’s big claims in the Northland buy election was that they had created 7500 new jobs in Northland. Lies lies lies.
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, March 6th, 2015 - 7 comments
When Michael Woodhouse and the bosses’ lobby are talking about “workplace flexibility”, you know who’s flexing their muscles.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, March 5th, 2015 - 17 comments
For someone responsible for managing employment relations in New Zealand, Michael Woodhouse doesn’t seem to understand what “employment relations” means.
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, March 3rd, 2015 - 80 comments
Danyl at the Dim-Post has looked more closely at the decision to award a worker $168k over a cake and a Facebook post – and what it tells us about National’s employment law reforms.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, February 17th, 2015 - 54 comments
Celebrate International Right to Strike Day on 18 February by sending a message to Kiwi employers: stop undermining our right to strike!
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, February 12th, 2015 - 92 comments
Zero-hour contracts are the perfect illustration of when “flexibility” in employment relations goes all one way.
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 49 comments
The Productivity Commission has a new report out which looks at changes in the labour income share, or LIS, from 1978 to 2010. The labour income share is described in the report’s summary as: The labour income share (LIS) measures the split of national income between workers who supply labour and the owners of capital. […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, February 5th, 2015 - 9 comments
Darien Fenton at Jobs That Count brings us the details of the fight for decent pay and conditions at Talley’s meat processing plants
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, December 22nd, 2014 - 33 comments
A new report shows that Steven Joyce’s MBIE fiefdom is failing miserably. Meanwhile the MBIE is under fire for the major cost blow out of the Sky City Casino deal – another deal with Joyce’s imprints all over it.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, December 17th, 2014 - 20 comments
The Meatworkers Union today launch a campaign for Jobs That Count – to try to get better conditions for these marginalised workers who face it all – seasonal work, dangerous jobs, casual and zero hours contracts and anti-union pressure.
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 pm, December 9th, 2014 - 85 comments
a new report shows that poverty related illnesses are growing at a rapid rate for asian children, and so are other poverty indicators. some of this is related to a more settled population, but we also need to talk about racism.
Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, November 1st, 2014 - 188 comments
Automation is changing everything – faster than we think…
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 26th, 2014 - 11 comments
JAmooches continues their analysis of the effects of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. Today the focus is on the provisions that negate the requirement for the parties to act in good faith bargaining, in particular for being able to conclude collective agreements.
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, October 5th, 2014 - 137 comments
There’s something obscene about the way the economic story gets framed: the figures on a page, the points on an index, the number of dollars someone can swap for a number of different-coloured dollars, when people are suffering.
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, September 14th, 2014 - 119 comments
David Cunliffe has announced his final big policy. It’s called NZ Inc and it’s a bloody smart move.
Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 19 comments
On Firstline this morning, John Key tried to compare National’s and Labour’s policies by saying “You can’t grow the economy when you restrict labour laws.” It’s nonsense, and it’s scary.
Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, August 6th, 2014 - 54 comments
The latest Household Labour Force Survey was released today, showing a drop in unemployment. But while its an improvement, there is far less employment than when National came into office 5 years ago. That is a monumental fail.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 6th, 2014 - 54 comments
How much longer do we have to live with this”neoliberal” nightmare? It should have died with the global financial crisis, caused by the unfettered greed of the banksters & socially callous. “Paying the Price” on Al Jazeera; AAAP Mangere Action Impact this week.
Written By: - Date published: 6:09 pm, August 4th, 2014 - 8 comments
Other than fixing child poverty, there’s probably no more important policy than this. Labour will commit $183 million to a comprehensive Youth Employment Package designed to reach 24,000 young New Zealanders.
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 pm, August 2nd, 2014 - 77 comments
Steven Joyce says Labour’s opposition to the sale of 13,800ha Lochinver station to Shanghai Pengxin is based on “xenophobia.” It’s not, its basic economic sense. The benefit from our land should stay here. And Joyce’s open door has seen rail wagons bought cheap and fixed dear by Chinese workers at the expense of good local jobs and crucial Kiwi skills. Labour is simply standing up for New Zealand. It’s the right thing to do.
Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, August 1st, 2014 - 298 comments
Labour is promising to raise the minimum wage to $16.25. It’s the right thing to do. And it doesn’t cost jobs.
Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, July 30th, 2014 - 165 comments
Labour has today released its Work and Wages policy. An immediate lift to $15 in the minimum wage, and a raise to $16.25 in April next year. 90 day free sacking option for employers to go in first 100 days. Core public service to get the Living Wage first, others to follow. That’ll put some money where it’s most needed.
Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, June 28th, 2014 - 3 comments
In 2004 Green Party Co-Leader Rod Donald made a speech about the Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill. Ten years later the State Sector is still not an equitable employer. Pakeha men have done considerably better over the ten years than any other demographic and this is despite the fact that for many years now females have been out performing males academically. Women still earn less relative to their qualifications than men. There is some hope that a future Green/Labour coalition may finally address the issue.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, June 13th, 2014 - 20 comments
The ACT Party today released its employment relations policy, which focuses on providing both employees and employers with flexibility in how they arrange their workplaces. “People may think they know how slavery works, but do they really? It’s an idea that has had some bad publicity over the years, but only because the right model hasn’t been tried. We believe we have developed the right model. A model that gives employees genuine choice about whether or not to become slaves.”
Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, June 12th, 2014 - 116 comments
David Farrar in his usual burst of hypocrisy and curious selectiveness about detailed numbers is proclaiming a headline rise in manufacturing. As is usual he is only interested in the top level numbers and doesn’t provide a link to even the summary data. I guess that is because they are rather depressing for his 9th floor of the Beehive view of employment and wage packets, which is what most voters expect from growth. There has been a slight decline in manufacturing jobs while we have a 11% growth in “manufacturing”.
Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, May 12th, 2014 - 58 comments
No Right Turn shows that John Key has no real understanding of the economic and political history of this country. Probably because the last time another economic illiterate from National said that the prospect of reducing unemployment in NZ to below 6% was “a hoax”, John Key wasn’t here. He probably heard it from that illiterate, who once again is our minister of finance. Unemployment under Labour was as low as 3.3%
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, May 7th, 2014 - 41 comments
No Right Turn points out that depressing fact that “Still 42,000 (more) out of work under National”. Tories don’t really care until they have to pay taxes for the debt. But hey they voted themselves a tax cut in 2008 – so they’re still happy as the government debt levels keep blowing out to Muldoon levels. National economic management = stupid debt.
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, April 23rd, 2014 - 115 comments
Labour has swung positively behind the change from Jones to Kelvin Davis. In his interview on TV3’s First Line this morning, Davis was confident, down-to-earth, & energetic. Hone Harawira & Davis are strong candidates for Te Tai Tokerau and those struggling on low incomes. Both would be assets for a Labour-led government.
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