Download a full copy of the speech: Richard Wagstaff’s CTU Conference Speech 2017
Read more...Author: admin
Vector spot-on to adopt the Living Wage
The announcement that Auckland electricity and gas provider Vector has become a fully-accredited Living Wage employer is a landmark move says Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff. “While local authorities have received the most attention, initial support for the Living Wage in the private sector has come from small employers. So it is brilliant… Read more »
Read more...
The union pay premium, 2017
In August, the Centre for Labour, Employment and Work (CLEW) at Victoria University released their annual analysis of collective employment agreements (CEAs). It shows again that people who are part of a collective get better pay rises: the union pay premium. For the year to June 2017 CLEW finds that on average wages in collectives… Read more »
Read more...
CTU Welcomes New Minister of Workplace Relations
The Council of Trade Unions today welcomes Iain Lees-Galloway as incoming Minister of Workplace Relations, of Immigration, and of ACC. “Iain has an excellent grasp of workplace relations and its associated portfolios. There is a lot to be done to ensure economic growth delivers real benefits for working people, and that we improve the way… Read more »
Read more...
Te Takawaenga relationship accord signed at union conference
A strengthened relationship between the national representatives of Māori workers and the trade union movement has been marked in Wellington today. Leadership of the trade union movement have this morning signed Te Takawaenga relationship accord at the Biennial Conference of the Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, which got underway at the Michael Fowler… Read more »
Read more...
Labour-Green agreement brings Just Transition confidence and supplies Equal Pay
“The Labour-Green confidence and supply agreement gives both to working people,” says CTU Secretary Sam Huggard. “It brings real confidence to working people that the transition to a net zero emissions economy can be achieved and achieved justly with their working interests in mind. “It also supplies the muscle to the equal pay process –… Read more »
Read more...
New Vision for the Minimum Wage a Great Tonic
“This is just the sort of change working people voted for,” says CTU President Richard Wagstaff. “It is great to see the Labour-New Zealand First Coalition Government putting people first and it is a really good first step on the path to a fairer Aotearoa”. The Government has committed to a minimum wage of $20. Recent… Read more »
Read more... Living in New Zealand now even more expensive – especially if you are poor
The release of the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) by Statistics New Zealand shows that incomes are not keeping up with the cost of living. “Prices are rising faster than wages, and some of the biggest price rises are basic necessities for the lowest paid” said Sam Huggard, Council of Trade Unions Secretary.
Read more...
Challenges for the incoming Government
We won’t know for a while which parties will make up the new New Zealand Government. Whoever it is will face the same challenges. The most likely shocks to New Zealand’s economy are from the international economy and from a crash in the housing market. There are still many concerns in Europe, the US, even… Read more »
Read more...
Accounting firm’s disgraceful description of health and safety as “overkill”
The Council of Trade Unions is appalled that an Auckland accounting business has described health and safety as “overkill”. Reckon Accounting has published a survey today, which claims health and safety is a “compliance” that takes focus away from “core business”. “When 34 people have been killed at work this year, it’s a particularly poor choice of words,”… Read more »
Read more...