The Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi (CTU) is mourning the passing of its inaugural Kuia, Whaea Kāterina Daniels, who has died, in Rotorua.
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Maximum Sustainable Employment
This month I was going to write about all the clawbacks and abatements of tax credits, accommodation supplement and the like. As they, like soaring rents, can seriously undermine the impact any pay increases people receive.
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Company profits rising, wage shares falling
In June, Statistics New Zealand published data from its annual Annual Enterprise Survey (AES) which shows company profits, wages and salaries paid, and many other details of companies in the commercial economy. It shows a falling share of income going to wage and salary earners, along with increasing company profits which are even stronger when… Read more »
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Fair Pay Agreements will make working life better for all Kiwis
The Council of Trade Unions has today released an independent report conducted by economic research company BERL into the validity of sector bargaining. And the findings are clear – there is no economic reason not to implement sector bargaining but many social and individual wellbeing reasons to do so. CTU President Richard Wagstaff is urging… Read more »
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The CTU Budget Report 2019
The Government describes it as a Wellbeing Budget and has taken a different approach to the way funding has been prioritised, including stating five Budget Priorities last December. We have therefore not only assessed it in the usual way by each of the main Budget areas (by ‘Vote’) but include an assessment as to what… Read more »
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Harriet Morison Fighting for Fairness
Harriet Morison leaves an important legacy, as a unionist suffragist and feminist. Harriet is an example of the strong connections between women workers and their fight for women’s rights in Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1890 in Dunedin Harriet Morison became the Secretary of the Tailoresses Union. It was the first union to represent female workers… Read more »
Read more...CTU welcomes Tax Working Group report
The Council of Trade Unions is welcoming the release of today’s report from the Tax Working Group. The CTUs Economist Bill Rosenberg was a member of this group. “It is good to see that the Working Group has come up with some tangible things that the government can do to create a fairer system for… Read more »
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Labour statistics show more effort from government required
The Council of Trade Unions is welcoming signs today, in the Labour Market Statistics, of stronger pay rises coming through but says there is a long way still to go. “It is good to see a strong rise in the average wage over the last year, and that more Kiwi workers are getting pay rises,… Read more »
Read more...Living Wage for Westpac
The Council of Trade Unions is welcoming growing awareness in the business sector that lifting incomes is a priority, with today’s announcement that Westpac will be an accredited Living Wage employer. “It’s good to see that at least some parts of the business sector are recognising that low wages are a problem. Employers have the… Read more »
Read more...New Zealand’s tax system: weak at reducing inequality
How well does New Zealand’s tax system perform in reducing inequality? What would be the effect of some likely changes to it discussed in the interim report of the Tax Working Group, released last week? New Zealand’s personal income tax system is very weak in reducing inequality compared to other OECD countries. So is our… Read more »
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