Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, April 14th, 2013 - 84 comments
The Court Martial of Flight Lieutenant Dan Pezaro by the NZ Defence Force is making me uneasy. The internal Court of Inquiry into this accident hinted at major disfunction within the upper reaches of the Forces in terms of health and safety. On my reading of that report, the RNZAF itself could be liable in […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, April 12th, 2013 - 27 comments
John Key’s government has been gradually dismantling NZ’s democratic processes. Various activities this week are a major part of a frightening shift: a Bill enabling mining conservation land; punitive social security Act; Key’s control over NZ’s “intelligence community”.
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 10th, 2013 - 18 comments
Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft amounting to major changes, were before the House. These undermine democracy, fairness, the security and rights of individuals, and increase hardship for those on low incomes. Ardern on Social Security. Cunliffe on child support, privacy breaches & trust.
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, April 9th, 2013 - 37 comments
Any day now the Government will announce more changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes will drive down wages and undermine the conditions of all workers. They will also remove the small amount of protection most cleaners and hospitality workers get when the business they are working for loses a contract to another contractor. […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:28 am, April 7th, 2013 - 32 comments
The Nats’ youth rate wages (“for when the ‘minimum’ wage just isn’t low enough”) come in to effect next month. Some of the big youth employers are making their intentions known. You may wish to vote with your wallet.
Written By: - Date published: 6:32 am, April 4th, 2013 - 106 comments
Hard to believe, but despite having a Green Party mayor the Wellington City Council is about to outsource work currently done by council staff. We all know what that means – redundancies, longer hours, poorer safety standards and ultimately lower pay for workers as contractors screw down wages in a bid to undercut each other […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, April 2nd, 2013 - 90 comments
As you know, the Right says more money incentivises harder work. John Key felt he wasn’t working very hard when he first became PM on a net $250,000 a year, so he gave himself tax cuts and pay rises worth $100 a day. Just look at the results! But I’m confused: why’s he cutting our pay with youth wages, higher Kiwisaver, and higher student loan repayments?
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, April 1st, 2013 - 79 comments
A raft of Tory policies have been dismantling the British welfare state: bedroom tax, privatising the NHS: NZ’s NAct government is following the same pattern of slyly changing small things, adding up to major changes that are ultimately socially & economically destructive.
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, March 28th, 2013 - 23 comments
New figures show that the wage gap with Australia is still increasing. National has nothing to offer but useless policies and excuses, while the captains of industry trot out the old productivity lie again.
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, March 27th, 2013 - 55 comments
Opposition MPs (e.g. Ardern & Mathers) and Sue Bradford highlight that the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill destroys lives, furthers NAct’s elitist agenda, & is more propaganda than social security or job creation.
Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, March 26th, 2013 - 64 comments
I am at the Governing Body meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva. The GB is the tripartite executive that governs the place. There are 33 union representatives on the GB and a fair few of them live in very dangerous circumstances because of their union activities in their home countries. Those we sit, eat and plan with may be arrested, jailed, tortured or killed when they get home.
Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, March 23rd, 2013 - 7 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on youth rates…
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, March 20th, 2013 - 46 comments
I “attended” a fascinating “town hall” meeting last week of artists from around the world in the Visual Special Effects sector. Ignited by the failure of the company Rhythm and Hues (despite recently completing most of the special effects for the film The Life of Pi and winning award recognition for the work), these workers […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, March 15th, 2013 - 13 comments
Bravo to TONZU, the first employers to sign up for the living wage for all its workers.
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, March 13th, 2013 - 18 comments
Forest Owners representative Sheldon Drummond suggested the union movement campaign around forestry safety was motivated by the “large un-unionised workforce” in forestry. In Sheldon’s mind this is clearly code for “bad motive”. Interviews with workers tell the story of their working lives, the long hours they are working and how safety issues are relegated when they are on the hill.. Fearing that if the article identifies them in any way there will be consequences – they are adamant that reprisal is a real risk. Sheldon sees none of this….
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, March 4th, 2013 - 67 comments
The NZ Forestry Sector is completely unmonitored – It is one of our most dangerous industries and no one seems to know what is going on. From my perspective it appears within officialdom and the Forest Owners themselves, no one really cares.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, March 1st, 2013 - 106 comments
Emails released on the Standard today show that, during the Hobbit “dispute” the Government and others lied to the people of New Zealand to maintain a perception of a crisis.
It was a shameful moment in New Zealand’s political history.
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, February 27th, 2013 - 90 comments
The minimum wage should be at least $15 per hour. A living wage is estimated at $18.40 per hour. So what have the Nats done? Raised the minimum wage by $0.25 per hour to $13.75. It’s a derisory increase. Even their own supporters think so.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, February 25th, 2013 - 30 comments
I’m a big fan of the Living Wage campaign. And I really liked the Herald’s series covering the launch week. But part of that coverage highlighted a big problem that I don’t think the Living Wage campaign will reach.
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 pm, February 18th, 2013 - 13 comments
The CTU wants to raise awareness of the effect of market pressures on working conditions and workplace safety. What killed Ken Callow?
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, February 18th, 2013 - 80 comments
Unions have been under concerted attack for several decades. Though weakened, they still produce results for workers. NZ Teachers’ Unions act on sound research, aiming to provide a quality and fair education system for all Kiwis. Global federations are campaigning against anti-worker corporates, like DHL.
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, February 15th, 2013 - 66 comments
Don’t you love hearing the rich say the working poor can’t have more pay? The faux concern that higher wages cost jobs from the same people who support huge executive pay packets and tax cuts? If you really believed higher wages meant fewer jobs, you would cut the CEO’s pay in half, not dick around over a few dollars an hour for real workers.
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, February 15th, 2013 - 22 comments
Irony meters everywhere pegged their meters as Bill English accused some bosses of being “greedy”, and not paying their staff enough. Hey Double Dipton – those greedy bosses? – they’re just following your example…
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, February 15th, 2013 - 141 comments
For those of you who’ve missed it Colin Espiner is back on the NZ interwebz with a new Stuff blog, the (rather earthily titled) Bull-Dust. Colin was a bit of a pioneer of journalist blogging in New Zealand. He was, I believe, the first Gallery journalist to run a proper blog and certainly the first to get in amongst it in the comments sections.
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, February 14th, 2013 - 89 comments
The Living Wage Coalition has released the results of their research, calculating that a wage of $18.40 is needed for workers and their families to have a decent life and participate in society. About 40% of workers currently earn less. The pressure is now on bosses of businesses and public bodies to pay the living wage or explain why they deserve a decent life but their workers don’t.
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, February 13th, 2013 - 22 comments
The Salavation Army “State of the Nation” report is out today, and, as Metiria Turei says, it makes depressing reading. It describes a nation of increasing inequalities, with those on low incomes, and their children, being hit particularly hard.
Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, February 11th, 2013 - 26 comments
John Key, as expected, failed to take any sort of lead – or even fast following – on the Living Wage campaign. It’s “a matter for them” – businesses and workers – not something for a mere Prime Minister to be interested in. He thinks it’s nice if businesses pay more as they can afford it, but obviously doesn’t see higher wages as a priority.
Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, February 11th, 2013 - 175 comments
The living wage campaign is announcing this week the results of its study into the pay that a family needs to afford the basics for a decent life in New Zealand. It’ll be around $18-$20 an hour, which is more than 40% of workers get. I look forward to the proposal receiving strong support from the parties of the Left – the Left has always said a well-paying job is better than welfare.
Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, February 9th, 2013 - 70 comments
Greenpeace activists were fined and ordered to do Community Service – for serving the global community by protesting about Climate Change & the oil industry. Others get honours like knighthoods for services that are damaging for the majority in the community. Misplaced values? [update] RNZ interview with Lucy Lawless.
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, February 8th, 2013 - 42 comments
The Nats were elected on a promise of a high wage economy. When it became clear that they were achieving the opposite, they tried to spin a disaster into a “competitive advantage”. And so in the real world the exodus to Australia continues. Now it’s affecting even our naval capability.
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