Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, June 22nd, 2009 - 47 comments
Earlier this year the National/ACT government announced it would be closing the Department of Labour’s Pay and Employment Equity Unit, which was set up by the previous government to address the 12% pay gap experienced by women workers. The excuse given by State Services Minister Tony Ryall was that ending discrimination and paying women what […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, June 22nd, 2009 - 17 comments
I’d prefer not to wade into the David Garrett sexual harrassment fiasco, but having seen his pathetic blame-shifting in the media I’ve got to call bullshit on him. Both Garrett and his boss Rodney Hide have been downplaying the sexual harassment with the excuse that Garrett was an oil rig worker for ten years, so […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, June 18th, 2009 - 15 comments
A lot of people (like a million people or more according to the experts) are set to get sick from swine flu or not be able to go to work because the business is shut because of swine flu. What will happen to people’s incomes when they can’t work because of swine flu? The statutory […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, June 14th, 2009 - 16 comments
Ever growing numbers of workers aren’t playing the old game any more. Shawn Hattingh has a good piece over at znet documenting some of the moves permitted in the emerging new game. From ‘bossnappings’ in France to occupations and full workplace takeovers and the adoption of self management systems in places as diverse as Scotland, […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:38 am, June 12th, 2009 - 13 comments
She’s really trying her best. Even with only one news cycle to go, Melissa Lee is still out there, working hard to get herself into third place. From NZPA: Appearing in a candidate’s debate in front of members of the Unite union, Ms Lee was asked how she would survive on the minimum wage of […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, June 7th, 2009 - 23 comments
Call me old-fashioned but the Worth scandal doesn’t really interest me much. In fact I’m of the opinion that Goff and others should just STFU about it now and let process take its course or risk having some of the unpleasantness of it rub off on the Labour brand by association. I’m much more interested […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 5th, 2009 - 1 comment
In Brisbane yesterday, members of Australian transport unions took over an intersection outside AirNZ’s HQ to show their solidarity with the Zeal workers. Great to see the workers supporting each other across national borders. As for Air New Zealand, their shame is now international. -Marty G
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, May 29th, 2009 - 28 comments
It’s a bleak budget alright. No jobs package. That’s scandalous dereliction of duty. The 70,000-100,000 people who will loss their jobs this year and their families will remember that the Tories sat on its hands when it mattered. Boy, they know how to manage the journos though. People whose major mathematical skill is having the right change […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:03 pm, May 28th, 2009 - 20 comments
John Key famously said “we would love to see wages drop“. It sure didn’t take him long in government to see his ambition achieved. Here are the wage hourly wages rates, adjusted for inflation, over the last decade and Treasury’s projections from today’s budget. After peaking this year (wages lag unemployment), wages will drop then stall. […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, May 26th, 2009 - 12 comments
National has belatedly woken up to the fact that not all Kiwis are middle aged white males, and has been trying to make much of its new found diversity. It showcased supposed star Melissa Lee in the high profile Mt Albert by-election, and has trumpeted that “The Party has 17 women in the top 60”. […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, May 17th, 2009 - 11 comments
A great initiative from the National Distribution Union: With the bank (Westpac) leaving Lane Walker Rudkin workers out in the cold without their redundancy pay and the Government failing to respond to calls for funds to establish a worker-led support centre we are running cake stalls to help the workers help each other. The first […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, May 14th, 2009 - 2 comments
Green MP Catherine Delahunty is running an e-card campaign to support public sector pay equity after National announced it would be cancelling pay equity reviews and sacking the team responsible for them. It’s a stark reminder that nothing has really changed since National dumped pay equity legislation immediately after taking office in 1990. You can […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, May 13th, 2009 - 9 comments
Despite four days of strike action and growing public outrage over Air New Zealand’s treatment of its Zeal320 flight attendants, CEO Rob Fyfe is still refusing to even start closing the glaring pay gap between these workers and those employed directly by AirNZ. Why is Fyfe willing to force these workers into even more strike […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, May 11th, 2009 - 8 comments
If you’re in Auckland on Thursday pop along to this in your lunch hour and help support low-paid cleaners: Hat tip: The Hand Mirror.
Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, May 11th, 2009 - 10 comments
Well that didn’t take long. Bosses ‘using recession’ to squeeze staff: Bosses being accused of using the recession to exploit workers by driving down wages, forcing unrealistic productivity targets on staff and creating an environment where stressed staff will leave without waiting to collect redundancy pay. As evidence mounts of increasing employer pressure on staff, […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, May 8th, 2009 - 19 comments
A Zeal worker on the picket line in Wellington explains why she and her workmates are taking strike action at Air New Zealand: There’s also a report from the picket line at The Hand Mirror, photos from the pickets here and a timetable of when pickets are happening around the country here for those who […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:51 pm, May 7th, 2009 - 26 comments
Zeal320 workers are on strike for four days from today. Ads in every major newspaper explain what they are fighting for – the same pay for doing the same work as other fligh attendants on Air NZ flights. Check out ZealGirl for stories of how management has tried to break the Zeal320 workers’ resolve and […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, May 7th, 2009 - 24 comments
The latest unemployment figures look better than expected but appearances may be deceptive. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up to 5.0%, lower than expected, but the unadjusted number is 5.6%. There is a seasonal adjustment unemployment usually climbs in the March quarter, then falls later in the year, whether that will happen this year […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, May 7th, 2009 - 13 comments
Cut public spending then we can have tax cuts! It’s such a nice, appealing slogan when you say it fast without engaging the brain. The reality though is real people who spend their lives working for the greater good are losing their jobs and seeing their incomes fall, and the services they produce will suffer […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, May 6th, 2009 - 5 comments
Zealgirl, a blog from a Zeal flight attendant involved in the current industrial dispute at Air New Zealand. [Hat tip: The Hand Mirror]
Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, May 6th, 2009 - 12 comments
The Fire at Will law has been in place for two months. It’s still very early days but how is it going? Are workers being forced into 90-Day periods against their will? Are people being fired for no good reason? The government can’t tell us because it isn’t bothering to monitor its implementation and effects. No […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, May 5th, 2009 - 29 comments
Last week I posted on Finsec’s petition to make job protection a condition of the Government’s bank guarantees. Today Finsec are delivering that petition to Parliament, along with more than 10,000 signatures in support. Great stuff to all of you who signed the sheet and sent it in. The union’s position is pretty simple. At […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, May 5th, 2009 - 37 comments
It’s a few days late but last Saturday’s Herald story about Air New Zealand preparing strikebreakers for the Zeal 320 strike this weekend depressed the hell out of me. What exactly is our national carrier, which is more than 80% publicly owned, doing boasting about how it can break its own workers? Let me be […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, May 4th, 2009 - 27 comments
The Quarterly Employment Survey out today shows that 46,700 jobs disappeared between December and March. That’s 2.6% of jobs gone in a single quarter. Unemployment is probably well over 6%, we’ll find out exactly what it is later this week. 47,000 jobs lost while the government has done next to nothing to create and save […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, May 1st, 2009 - Comments Off on International Workers’ Day
If you’re in Auckland tonight get along for the annual May Day march up Queen Street. Poster below. More events, including for other centres, are listed here.
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, April 30th, 2009 - 54 comments
I see poor management and a bitter marital tiff have put the jobs of 470 workers at Lane Walker Rudkin on the line and cast doubt on the future of yet another iconic Kiwi company. As the NDU’s Maxine Gay points out, communities like Timaru, Greytown and Pahiatua simply can’t afford to take a hit […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, April 30th, 2009 - 50 comments
If a Public Holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, we should get the day off on the following Monday instead, like other countries. In 2011, Easter Sunday and ANZAC day will be the same day. Dumb. If Anzac Day coincides with another public holiday, the day off should be moved to the next […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 30th, 2009 - 13 comments
From Finsec’s blog, …the gossip: Fox TV is taking television to a new low with a new show with the working title Someone’s Gotta Go. The show will make ‘entertainment’ out of job cuts, with staff being able to vote for who should lose their job. The employees will have access to internal company information […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:37 am, April 28th, 2009 - 12 comments
Members of the Tertiary Education Union at the Manukau Institute of Technology are striking. A TEU member explains the dispute: Basically lecturers at MIT are going on strike this week over workload pressures. Last year the Institute cut all its admin staff, and surprise, everyone else’s workload increased. Then this year, with the recession, heaps […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 am, April 28th, 2009 - 4 comments
Does it strike anyone else as odd that at a time when taxpayers are guaranteeing the banking system with public funds, banks have made no such guarantee to their staff about job security? While the banks made combined profits in excess of $2.5 billion and CEOs recieve salary packages of more than $2 million each, […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, April 24th, 2009 - 12 comments
If you’ve been watching your Fox News, you know that the US is turning socialist. It’s going to be Sweden any day apparently. The Daily Show went to Sweden to get a taste of the fate that awaits Americans. The tunes they play while visiting Robyn’s apartment… They’re great songs but do they suddenly […]