The Government wants to make workers more unsafe
Stand with Pike representatives have submitted to the Government that its proposed changes to worker safety laws will make people less safe at work.
workers' rights
health and safety
Who would have thunk that slashing Health IT budgets would result in IT outages
A year after the Government slashed a third of Health IT jobs the Auckland hospital system has suffered a massive IT outage.
Stand with Pike – preserve Health and Safety at Work
On the 15th anniversary of the Pike River disaster Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse will today be speaking to Brook van Velden about the need to preserve and strengthen safety at work laws.
No mandate for this
Partial strike law penalties used on nurses trying to keep themselves safe is emblematic of the wider libertarian playbook within the NZ government
Work will not be so safe
Brooke Van Velden has announced changes to Workplace safety laws that will see prosecutions of Employers decrease but prosecutions of workers start.
2024 in review
It is that time of year when during the brief hiatus of civilisation known as the holidays we get the time to reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months.
Safer streets or unsafer streets?
The Government is planning to reverse Labour’s previous policy relating to permanent safe speeds around schools. The change will decrease safety and walking and cycling and increase car use. And the upside is?
Health & safety of workers is apparently about Cones
The Government’s latest announcement about worker safety is about business, not people.
The pandemic is resiliency training
Fear and loathing on both sides of the fence, or adaptation and resiliency? We do have some choices.
Nurses refuse pay offer
NZNO members who work in district health boards (DHBs) have voted by clear majority to reject the latest offer in their negotiations with the DHBs, saying it fails to address the chronic and systemic safe staffing issues in a way that would ensure and protect the future of the health system.
National’s very bad day
Yesterday was a day where National focussed on dog whistle racism, supported religious extremists and moaned about workers receiving a modest increase in the minimum wage.
Ports of Auckland – time for change
Auckland Council has released the Ports of Auckland Independent Health and Safety Report and the recommendations are damning.
Doocey is taking the piss
Private member’s bills are an important feature of Parliament. They give all MPs the chance to change the law to address real or perceived issues and problems. So what does National MP Matt Doocey think is the country’s most pressing problem?
Checkpoint shroud-waving over Queensland politics?
Today’s Checkpoint descended into shroud-waving in the case of a New South Wales family not able to visit their dying father in Queensland because of the strict border closure. As our health officials note, “bereavement issues” are where most care is needed to prevent the virus spread.
Trade Unionism: Does it have a future
There is no blueprint for building a stronger more effective trade union movement. There are many, who each and every day wake up and do exactly that.
National wants to open up our borders, unless you are Indian, Pakistani or Korean
National Backbench MP Hamish Walker has claimed that Queenstown is to be invaded by people from India, Pakistan and Korea when the reality is the Government is considering using empty Hotels for quarantining returning kiwis.
Responsible politics verses Gotcha politics
Michael Woodhouse has recently had a difficult ethical dilemma. He received information suggesting that there were major weaknesses in the Covid quarantine system. Should he do the responsible thing and point out these weaknesses to the authorities or should he play Gotcha politics?
The International investigation into Covid-19
More than 110 nations have backed a call for the World Health Organisation to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 virus outbreak.
Oh Sweden
Just when we thought liberal democracies meant real freedom was an absolute written into human rights stone, by mid-March this year almost all OECD countries had implemented the most draconian reversal of lockdowns on every single human to combat Covid19. Except Sweden. How is it working out?
Jacinda is not like Muldoon
National has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.
Bloomfield and the empire strikes back
Dr Ashley Bloomfield has responded to allegations by Simon Bridges that the government has suspended the Official Information Act and the Emergency Response Committee has made multiple requests for information from the Ministry that it is waiting for by advising publicly there are no outstanding requests for information.
Covid-19: down to L2 Thursday
In the ongoing press conference (RNZ): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a staggered move into level 2 starting on Thursday, with schools […]
Covid19 is a bastard
We are heading towards decision time. Does Aotearoa New Zealand loosen up and head back to a semi normal life?
Parker gives Bridges a lesson in constitutional law
In a Facebook Live event David Parker has schooled Simon Bridges on basic principles of constitutional law. And it appears that Bridges demand that legally privileged advice be handed over is heading to the Privileges Committee.
Bridges pulls a stunt
Simon Bridges threw two stunts yesterday, firstly threatening to try and summons senior Public Servants to publicise confidential legal advice and then by attacking Dr Ashley Blomfield for not answering emails quickly enough despite the existence of a pandemic which the country appears to be handling pretty well.
Top ten things we have learned already
The top ten things that the Covid pandemic has taught us as a country.
The Post Covid Blues
No new COVID 19 cases today!
UPDATE: No change to Level 2, decision in a week.
Pandemics and our privacy
The Ministry of Health is checking with the GCSB to enable full tracing of people to slow further outbreaks. Should we be afraid?
When Bridges’ social media goes wrong
Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.
Guest post – is it safe to lower the lockdown level?
Guest post by Karl Sinclair on what needs to be addressed before the country can be safely lifted out of lockdown.
The plan for Monday
Even if New Zealand gets out of the immediate Covid-19 infection better than most other countries, the result is still a wrecked world […]
What Is This Moment Teaching Us?
What is Covid-19 telling us about our response as a nation?
Please sort this out MoH
Frontline home care workers and their clients still don’t have adequate protection from covid.
Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out
Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential.
What not to do in a pandemic
The Trump regime has this week plunged new depths in the handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the United States
What about Climate Change then?
Shouldn’t this global shock from this COVID-19 virus make us all wake up to the power of collective global action on climate change?