No Pacific Prosperity without prosperity for pacific workers

"There can be no Pacific Prosperity without prosperity for pacific workers," Council of Trade Unions Secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

The Council of Trade Unions and its representative body Komiti Pasefika have been active participants in the Pacific Prosperity conference in Auckland this week, bringing a voice for working pacific people to the conference. An NZCTU statement to the conference is below.

"There is clearly a need for a national programme around pacific social and economic development" said Carol Beaumont. "The prosperity of Pacific peoples is intrinsically linked to a social and economic investment approach that can lift participation in industry training and tertiary education, further reduce unemployment and lift incomes."

"Improving wages for pacific workers is an immediate priority, with the average wage for Pacific peoples being $15.20 compared with $20.14 for Pakeha/European workers."

"We are committed to working with Government and businesses in economic and social development strategies. We will be following the outcomes of the conference with interest, and look forward to ongoing work around pacific development."

"The real stars in the Pacific Community are those who struggle to support their families here and back in the islands on minimum wages and bad working conditions. It is these stars that must be acknowledged and supported. We must create Decent Work for all New Zealanders" said Carol Beaumont.

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Statement to Pacific Prosperity Conference November 2005

Introduction

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) welcomes this Conference on Pacific Prosperity. The CTU has a very active Komiti Pasefika which runs training Fono for Pacific workers, educates Pacific workers on their workplace rights through community organisations and events, has input into Pacific workers issues and disputes and holds major biennial conference of Pacific workers.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is a strong advocate for economic development. We take a collective approach, which involves plenty of debate, allows space for differences, has a strong educational component and recognises the importance of accountability to those we represent. But most importantly it is about collective involvement and action on the key issues. We are also champions for equity. We argue against policies, practices and structures which are discriminatory. We respect diversity and advocate inclusion. We argue not only for active labour market policies to reduce unemployment, but for decent work which is also productive.

The CTU has strongly advocated policies that can address the needs of low income workers. We have successfully argued for a 36% increase in the minimum wage in the last 5 years. Pacific peoples in New Zealand are also a young population and we have sought an even higher increase in the minimum wage for young workers. Improvements in holiday pay and health and safety provisions have also benefited Pacific workers. New provisions in the Employment Relations Act to protect vulnerable workers in a transfer or contracting out situation also benefit Pacific workers.

The Status of Pacific Workers

Pacific workers have in many ways found it extremely hard to recover from the effects of the policies of the 1980s and 1990s. The privatisation and restructuring of state sector organisations, the effect of tariff cuts on employment in clothing factories and car assembly plants, major meat company restructuring and the abandonment of trade training all impacted severely on workers. The major loss of employment conditions and cuts in pay from the Employment Contracts Act in 1991, the cuts in benefits, and the proliferation of casual employment meant that many Pacific workers who were dislocated in the 1980s then faced further attacks on their incomes and job security throughout much of the 1990s.

The removal of the award system has had a major effect on incomes for Pacific workers - for instance in contract cleaning. The removal of penal rates and overtime, the casual nature of employment, and the prevalence of work done in unsocial hours all create a major problem for family and community life.

Pacific unemployment has fallen significantly over the last few years to now be at 5%. In December 2003 it was 8.8%. In March 1998 it was 16.5%. But the 5% rate of unemployment is much higher than the rate for Pakeha workers which is 2.2%. Part of this is due to the higher proportion of young Pacific workers, but there is also a higher rate of unemployment due to discrimination and disadvantage in the labour market.

Pacific workers are stuck in a low wage ghetto. The average wage for Pacific peoples is $15.20 compared with $20.14 for Pakeha/European. Pacific females remain the lowest paid on an ethnic and gender basis receiving $14.35 an hour. For every $1 a pakeha man earns a Pacifica woman earns 64 cents.

Pacific Island workers are concentrated in a number of sectors. In 2001, the largest occupational categories for Pacific males were plant and machine operators and assemblers (25%) and elementary occupations (15%), while the most common categories for Pacific females were clerical (24%), and service and sales occupations (23%). At that time manufacturing remains the most common industry group for Pacific workers, employing 33% of men and 17% of women.

Pacific adults have only about one-quarter the rate of higher academic qualifications as do the adult population of New Zealand as a whole. Only 7% of Pacific school-leavers go onto university compared to 21% of all school leavers. The proportion of total enrolments in degree or postgraduate studies was 51%, but for Pacific it was only 37%.

A key problem for Pacific people accessing tertiary education is that a far higher proportion leave school without minimum entry qualifications.

In 2004, 5% of industry trainees were Pacific peoples. Although this correlates with the 5% of the workforce who are Pacific peoples, it is at a much lower level than Maori participation. As with tertiary education generally, Pacific industry trainees have lower levels of previous qualifications. There were 48% with no qualifications compared with 30% of all trainees.

Nearly half (49%) of Pacific participation in this type of training is at Level one on the Qualifications Framework, compared with 22.4% of the total group. Just over a third (35.7%) of Pacific trainees achieve Level four certificates, compared with over half (57.1%) of the total group.

A Social and Economic Development Agenda for Pacific Workers

The CTU believes that a programme for economic and social development is required to advance the interests of Pacific peoples. The CTU recognises that the motivation of individuals is an important component of achieving prosperity. But we would put much more emphasis on what can be done collectively. For example, collective bargaining is more likely to deliver strong returns to workers than individual contract negotiations. Collective investment by central, regional and local government is also a vital component in economic and social development. Recognising the importance of family and community in supporting individuals is also vital.

The CTU argues strongly for an investment approach. That is why we are actively involved in the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board, the Productivity Reference Group, industry strategies such as in wood processing, food and beverage, and clothing and textiles. It is why we work alongside employers and government to support more investment in skill development including modern apprenticeships. Investment in skills including literacy and numeracy, quality infrastructure, technology and how to use it effectively, positive workplace cultures, and employee involvement are vital to the whole workforce. But the investment approach is particularly valuable for Pacific workers because of the severe dislocation of the 1980s and 1990s. With strong economic growth, improvements in productivity, and high profit levels, now is a good time to drastically increase that investment. Paying wages at a level to stop people going to Australia is also part of the mix.

An example of this approach is the promotion of a strategy for a strong manufacturing sector in New Zealand. Unions are working with Government and employers to develop some key initiatives to ensure that the 300,000 workers in the manufacturing sector have a positive future and that we can survive and prosper in a global manufacturing environment dominated by China. Pacific workers are extremely important to the viability of the manufacturing sector.

We would therefore advocate that the prosperity of Pacific peoples is intrinsically linked to a social and economic investment approach that can lift participation in industry training (and tertiary education generally), further reduce unemployment, and lift income levels.

The Importance of Dialogue

The CTU and unions have a perspective on Pacific prosperity. We seek an opportunity for dialogue on the best way forward and are committed to working with Government and businesses in economic and social development strategies. The real stars in the Pacific Community are those who struggle to support their families here and back in the islands on minimum wages and bad working conditions. It is these stars that must be acknowledged and supported. There can be no Pacific Prosperity without prosperity for Pacific Workers.