Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, March 4th, 2009 - 24 comments
The National government couldn’t hold off democracy forever, so today we are graced with the first members’ day of the new term. And if we had a pro-worker majority in the House, today would be day of celebration. Labour MP Darien Fenton’s Minimum Wage and Remuneration Bill is up, which would go towards ensuring all […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:29 pm, March 3rd, 2009 - 40 comments
Kudos to the Maori Party’s Rahui Katene for using her position to highlight the situation at Sealord in Parliament today. But it’s Paula Bennett’s response that got me thinking: Rahui Katene: Is the Minister aware that the MÄori shareholders of Sealord attended the Prime Minister’s Job Summit last Friday, and what plans does the Government […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, March 3rd, 2009 - 50 comments
Despite making sound profits Sealord are laying off 180 workers in Nelson. They claim the move is part of restructuring and that there will be fifty new jobs aboard factory ships that will fully process fish. Remaining workers are also being asked to take a pay cut. I’m not sure I buy that. Even with […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:16 am, March 3rd, 2009 - 40 comments
You know what we haven’t heard Key talk about in a long time? Closing the wage gap with Australia. Now he’s in power, is he going to do anything about creating a high wage economy? Doesn’t look like it. The truth is Key’s National/ACT Government is undertaking a rolling maul of anti-worker policies that take away our work […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 pm, March 2nd, 2009 - 13 comments
Kate Wilkinson’s attempts to defend the fire at will bill are getting increasingly desperate. She’s just put out an excited press release where she’s trying to claim that a CTU flyer telling workers they don’t legally have to sign onto a 90 day ‘trial’ period proves her absurd claim that these periods are therefore ‘voluntary’. […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, March 2nd, 2009 - 37 comments
It’s good to see the Council of Trade Unions offering solidarity to non-union workers who are subject to National’s fire at will law by providing free legal and industrial support. As Helen Kelly said on the news last night, when the Government fails in its basic duty to protect workers from arbitrary employer power then […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, March 2nd, 2009 - 101 comments
One of the most disappointing things about the debate over National’s fire at will law is how little its supporters understand the basic issues. Take Farrar’s latest post, where he says: But I would warn the unions to be careful about assuming all, or even most, dismissals during the 90 day period are ‘exploitive’. That […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, March 2nd, 2009 - 34 comments
National/ACT’s record for women so far has been dismal . Their work rights have been slashed by the Fire at Will law (women are disportionality employed by small businesses), they were all but excluded from the Job Summit (despite women being the most heavily affected by job losses and reduced hours), they got only a […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, March 2nd, 2009 - 16 comments
Chris Trotter has decided to take umbrage at my post about the 1951 lockout. I wouldn’t usually reply to such criticism but this one provides me with the opportunity to discuss one of my pet grudges: the pointless obsession of some on the left with glorious defeat. I say pointless because defeat is defeat. It’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, March 1st, 2009 - 46 comments
Today marks the first time in over a decade that workers’ rights have got weaker. From today new workers in small businesses will face having all of their work rights taken off them. As we’ve said before this will mean less security for vulnerable workers which will mean less bargaining power which will mean lower […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:55 pm, February 27th, 2009 - 18 comments
Today marks the anniversary of Holland’s deployment of the army to break the waterfront union in 1951. The documentary produced for the dispute’s 50th anniversary is available here. Unlike some other commentators on the left I don’t celebrate this. Nor do I celebrate the strike of 1913, despite it’s IWW origins. In both cases a […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:17 pm, February 26th, 2009 - 25 comments
Via Farrar’s site I’ve come across this a lovely piece of Government spin. It’s a PDF document checking off everything National’s done in its first 100 days. It’s pretty comprehensive. Funny thing is, despite mentioning everything from bonding doctors to line by line spending reviews, they seem to have completely forgotten the unpopular 90 day […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, February 26th, 2009 - 20 comments
Tomorrow, John Key’s much anticipated jobs summit will take place. It’s a big deal, it’s got a logo and everything. Unfortunately, John seems to have left The Standard off the invite list along with all but a few unionists, the unemployed, women’s groups, and any party left of centre. If you’re going to be there, […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, February 23rd, 2009 - 20 comments
Brian Fallow has some extraordinarily good analysis of the economic situation in his piece today. Here’s some important passages (and my, unfortunately, extensive comments): “We are really talking about two recessions back to back,” AXA Global Investors chief economist Bevan Graham said. “Last year it was a domestic one, that we needed to have. There […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, February 20th, 2009 - 51 comments
Remember this infamous PowerPoint presentation from National’s 2005 campaign? Remember the Nats’ vote-winning strategy of targeting female voters as outlined in The Hollow Men? Remember Key’s answer to Investigate Magazine: Investigate: In terms of the votes that you’re out to capture by 2008, who are you after, what is your target market? Key: It’s got […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:49 pm, February 17th, 2009 - 13 comments
An hour ago No Right Turn posted a piece citing what was apparently a Ministry of Social Development press release, which he says was “confirmation that the government is planning to slash 500 to 1000 people from the Ministry of Social Development”. He gives a link to scoop for the presser. But Scoop has since taken it down […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, February 11th, 2009 - 33 comments
Yesterday I expressed concern about Unite’s referendum on indexing the minimum wage to two-thirds of the average wage on practical grounds while strongly supporting the idea in principle. Today in its editorial the Herald takes exception to the principle, complaining that such a move, even phased in over a three year period, would deny people […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, February 10th, 2009 - 20 comments
Great, through concerted pressure the Left managed to force a 9-cent an hour real increase in the minimum wage from National/ACT. A 9 cent an hour real increase is not much but it’s a hell of a lot better than freezing the minimum wage at $12 an hour and letting inflation eat it as National/ACT had planned. The decision […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, February 10th, 2009 - 46 comments
The Unite Union has reacted to the Government’s miserly adjustment to the minimum wage by initiating a referendum on tying the minimum wage to two-thirds of the average wage. The principle behind the referendum is a good one. Indexing the minimum wage to 66% would be a huge step towards making sure our lowest paid […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, February 10th, 2009 - 33 comments
I see the Maori Party has come out saying the increase in the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour isn’t enough, and that they still support both a $15 an hour minimum wage and a tax-free bracket up to $25,000 (about the full-time minimum wage income). Pity they didn’t do something about it when they […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, February 9th, 2009 - 34 comments
Phil Goff has come out strongly in anticipation of today’s minimum wage announcement from the Government with a call for an immediate increase to $13 an hour, rising to $15 over three years. As he points out, if National only increases the minimum wage from $12 to $12.50 an hour as the DoL suggests, that […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, February 9th, 2009 - 28 comments
This year, the economy will shrink (at least) 1%. At the same time, the population will grow 1% (at least, growth may be stronger due to expats fleeing the UK). So, there’s going to be at least 2% less to go around (on top of a 2% reduction in GDP per capita last year). Now, […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, February 9th, 2009 - 34 comments
There is a rumour in the Dom Post and the Herald that the minimum wage will be announced today and the Nats are going to increase it to either $12.50 or $12.40 depending on whether it’s Fairfax or APN you’re reading. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was true as John Key knows full well […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:04 pm, February 5th, 2009 - 23 comments
The new employment data for the December quarter are out and they’re surprising reading. Now, the media will grab hold of the headline unemployment figure. At 4.6%, it’s up from 4.2% in the September quarter and brings the number of unemployed over 100,000 for the first time since 2003, which is about what everyone expected. But what you have to […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, February 3rd, 2009 - 23 comments
National’s excuse for illegally* failing to complete the annual review of the minimum wage is that it wants to ensure any increase doesn’t cost jobs. So, it seems pertanent to ask, does raising the minimum wage result in job losses? Every year, the Department of Labour, presents the Minister with a regulatory impact statement with […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, February 2nd, 2009 - 28 comments
So Cabinet has deferred its decision on the minimum with John Key simply promising “it won’t be very far away at all”. Now that’s just shoddy. In tough economic times we need strong government leadership. Now is the time for certainty and action, it’s not the time to dither and umm and ahh. But we […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:41 am, February 2nd, 2009 - 34 comments
Today, Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson will be presenting a paper to her Cabinet colleagues regarding the minimum wage. The Department of Labour recommended a fifty cent an hour increase. Word is, Kate Wilkinson will be recommending no change. But John Key was forced to commit to unspecified increases on the campaign trail, so most expect […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, January 28th, 2009 - 32 comments
As we reported on Monday, the Cabinet is set to review the minimum wage. The Labour Department recommended maintaining its purchasing power by increasing the mw from $12 an hour to $12.50. Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson will propose keeping it at $12, a cut in the real value of the mw (many expect there will […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:22 am, January 26th, 2009 - 46 comments
In the Bay Report in December 2007, John Key was quoted as saying “we would love to see wages drop“. Inexplicably, the media at the time refused to accept the report of their small town colleague. Instead, they accepted Key’s various, contradictory excuses – ‘I was misquoted’, ‘I was joking’, ‘I was talking about Australian […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, January 23rd, 2009 - 17 comments
I’m the last person who’d criticise freezing the pay of our MPs but John Key’s cynical opportunism is at best a piece of pointless and time wasting PR and at worst a signal to attack Kiwi wages. Now before any of our regular right-wingers claim I’m reading too much into this it might pay to […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, December 22nd, 2008 - 38 comments
The Council of Trade Unions has done some research showing a worker with a Kiwisaver account will stand to lose as much as $200,000 in accumulated savings over their working life as a result of the National-led Government’s changes to the scheme. If you’re on $50k a year then National’s Kiwisaver cuts will cost you […]