June, 2005

Carol Beaumonts speech at the funeral of Sonja Davies. Wellington, June 19, 2005.

It is a great honour to speak on behalf of the union movement to celebrate the life of Sonja Davies.

I welcome the opportunity to once again bring warm greetings from the Council of Trade Unions. It is also a very important opportunity to acknowledge the excellent working relationship which has developed between the CTU and the Green MPs and Parliamentary staff over the past six years.

May, 2005

Comment

Tax cuts, inflation, government spending level and quality, and public debt are all to the fore at this time in election year. Various parties are now in a bidding war to see how much they can give in tax cuts. What should the union approach be to this issue? I don't think we should just simply oppose tax cuts in every situation. We need to point out what the risks are, the circumstances which would justify tax cuts, and the form they should take. Clearly from our point of view, the key incomes issue is the need for a general lift in wages. In the short term this is a about a fair share of economic growth and employer profits in the private sector, and in the public sector it is more about the pay levels needed to attract staff and provide quality services as well as recognise the role public servants make to a strong economy and society. In the longer term, a lift in wages is about getting the investments at the right level in skills and education, technology, infrastructure and all the elements that drive productivity. Of course we also need a bargaining system that ensures that such improvements are fairly distributed.