Category: Media releases

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Posted on

MEDIA RELEASE (POLL) – Teacher not using preferred pronouns shouldn’t be deregistered

Source: Family First

MEDIA RELEASE – 1 September 2023

Teacher Not Using Preferred Pronouns Shouldn’t Be Deregistered – Poll

A new nationwide poll has found significant opposition to a decision which resulted in a teacher losing his teaching licence for refusing to recognise a student’s gender ‘identity’ and using the students preferred pronouns.

A high school math teacher had his teaching registration cancelled after he refused to use the preferred pronouns and name for a 14-year-old student who was in the process of ‘transitioning’ from a biological girl to a boy.

In the poll of 1,000 New Zealanders commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research, respondents were asked “Should a teacher lose their teaching licence for misgendering a trans student (refusing to use their preferred pronoun or recognise their gender identity)?”

Only 16% of respondents said yes. Two in three Kiwis (65%) said the teacher shouldn’t lose their licence, and a further 19% were unsure.

Support for the teacher was strong amongst National (69%), ACT (76%) Labour (61%) and NZ First (70%) voters (based on 2020 vote), and even Green voters gave majority support (52%),

“It appears that the Teaching Council failed to ‘read the room’ when it recently cancelled the licence of the math teacher for this exact ‘crime’. The decision effectively told Kiwi teachers that if they aren’t willing to tell a biological lie and fully endorse gender ideology, then they’re not fit to be a teacher,” says Bob McCoskrie.

Current legislation does not address specific issues around names and pronouns, but the Ministry of Education recently commissioned so-called ‘guidelines’ from radical gender activist group InsideOut which claimed that using a person’s chosen name and pronouns was about respecting their right to self-determination. Fortunately the ‘guidelines’ are not mandatory – and were also not legally accurate .

This polling reveals that the majority of New Zealanders are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the gender ideology curriculum and agenda being rammed down in some schools, its effect on the teaching profession, and the coercion it’s placing on teaching professionals to tell a biological lie.

“When teachers are mandated to tell biological lies or lose their careers because of a flawed and harmful ideology which involves chemicalising and castrating vulnerable young people, then you know we’re in a really dangerous place. It is not loving to affirm a lie.”

“There is also considerable community and parental angst that parents can be kept out of the loop on all of this, and that a child’s social transitioning may be facilitated by the school without parents being informed.”

In comparison, these teachers can continue to teach:

  • A Teacher was censured after assaulting his daughter – but kept registration. He wrapped his hands around his teenage daughter’s neck, shook her “vigorously” and threatened to kill her after discovering the nature of her sexual activity. But can still teach.
  • Preschool teacher drove to work drunk. She had had three drink-driving criminal prosecutions and one previous tribunal decision relating to alcohol use. But can still teach.
  • A Whakatāne teacher was censured for serious misconduct after forcing students at a school camp to strip to their underwear and stand with their noses against a tree. But can still teach.
  • A teacher was a convicted drug cultivator, failed to comply with conditions placed on her during disciplinary proceedings in 2013, and failed to tell the Teaching Council about the criminal charge. But can still teach
  • A Christchurch teacher was found guilty of serious misconduct after making inappropriate and offensive comments on a podcast about students, a former girlfriend, his sex life and going to work “slightly high on drugs”. Still able to teach.
  • A teacher tried to hire a gang member to assault her principal. The teacher also fabricated grades for work not done by students, forged the head of department’s signature, and lied about what classes she had taught. The teacher feared she was going to be fired and so hatched a plan for one of her students’ grandfathers to threaten the principal. The teacher told a colleague she had arranged for the principal to be “capped”. Despite her “unprofessional” actions and “serious misconduct”, the Teachers’ Council gave the teacher permission to return to the classroom.

The nationwide poll was carried out 22/23 August and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

READ THE FULL POLL RESULTS

For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First

WATCH: FAMILY MATTERS: Exposed! The Radical Sexuality & Gender Indoctrination in Schools…

Posted on

Questionable assumptions, untested numbers in National’s tax plan

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The tax plan set out by National is propped up with questionable assumptions and untested numbers, say the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said the plan has generated many more questions than it answers.

“According to their plan, they will generate $3 billion from foreign buyers, $716 million from foreign casino operators.

“There is no evidence that these numbers are possible, nor how they will be delivered. That is up to $3.6 billion that will need to be found from even deeper cuts to public services.

National also wants to cut spending on items such as free prescriptions, public transport support, and income support for those on the very lowest incomes.

This tax package cuts $2.3 billion of spending on tackling climate change – which protects jobs, incomes, and communities – and then gives $2.3 billion to landlords in tax advantages.

“This shows how out of touch National is on the issues that matter to New Zealanders,” said Renney.

According to IRD, 2.3 million New Zealanders earned less than $44,000 a year, meaning that they will be getting $2.15 a week from this package.

“That’s 56% of all income taxpayers. For them, this is not cost of living support it’s an insult. Meanwhile, those who own multiple homes will be in for billions of dollars of government support.

“There is nothing in this package that supports sustainable economic growth, helps to grow jobs, and there is a real risk that it will simply stoke further inflation and housing speculation.

 “We still haven’t seen Nationals plan for how it will fund schools and hospitals. How it will lift children out of poverty. How it will build additional housing for those in need.

“This tax package simply adds more questions on top. It’s not clear the numbers add up, and it’s not clear that National shares New Zealanders priorities.”

Posted on

90-day trials – didn’t work then, won’t work now

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Unions across the country have slammed the National Party’s proposal to reintroduce 90-day trials, and say it would undermine fundamental workplace rights in New Zealand.

NZ Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff said 90-day trials were outdated, ineffective, and lazy policy.

“Getting ‘back on track’ as National puts it, clearly means a return to policies that are bad for working people.

“90-day trials are not a mechanism to make hiring workers easier. They only make it easier for businesses to fire them.” 

Trial periods have proven to be ineffective. Treasury funded research found no evidence that the ability to use trial periods significantly increased firms’ overall hiring.

Additionally, there was no evidence that the policy substantially increased short-term hiring.

The study did find that many employees faced increased uncertainty about their job security in the months after their hiring.

Unite National Secretary John Crocker said the policy would disproportionately impact workers that were young and on low incomes.

“This policy would disadvantage vulnerable workers, like young people or those just entering the workforce, while allowing bad employers to fire people with impunity.

“Workers can already be fired – but it has to be done fairly and reasonably. National’s proposal is to protect unfair and unreasonable employers from any consequences.”

E tū Director Sarah Thompson dismissed the policy as anti-evidence and anti-worker.

“During a cost-of-living crisis, workers and our families need better pay, conditions, and job security – things National seems dead set on eroding through talk of 90-day trials, and the repeal of Fair Pay Agreements.”

“This is a failed policy from the past that exists solely to seduce the National Party’s business donors,” said Dennis Maga, FIRST Union General Secretary. “This would make life worse in New Zealand for anyone who doesn’t already run a very large and exploitative business.”

Posted on

Rising profits accounted for more than half of domestic inflation during cost-of-living crisis

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

JOIN MEDIA RELEASE: FIRST Union, NZCTU and ActionStation

A new report released today by FIRST Union, NZ Council of Trade Unions and Action Station argues that rising profits – not wages – have been the primary driver of domestic inflation during the cost-of-living crisis.

“This report reveals that from mid-2021 to the end of 2022, rising profits contributed more than half of domestic inflationary pressure, while labour costs accounted for less than a third”, said FIRST Union Researcher and Policy Analyst Edward Miller.

“Many communities that are enduring rising prices while businesses post record profits have reached the same conclusion. They know that they are also on the receiving end of an inflation policy response that disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable”, said Miller.

Profit-led inflation in Aotearoa uses the same methodology as reports by the OECD, European Central Bank and the Australia Institute to decompose the profit and labour contributions to domestic inflationary pressure. Sector- and firm-level data provide further insight into how rising profits have fed into prices, looking at food, transport and housing.

“Over the past year, inflation has been the grand excuse for anyone to wield at their disposal. It provides cover for business owners to push up prices while withholding wage rises. It has been sharpened as a weapon for political gain by parties wanting to shrink government and the public sector. All of this has distracted us from the big businesses driving inflation,” said Kassie Hartendorp, Director of ActionStation.

“While our communities have been struggling from rising prices for the basics, big business has been shamelessly profiting off customers’ misery. This report shows that our largest corporations have been driving inflation at a time when people are struggling the most. We need policies that will address the root of the problem and ease the pressure for all of us,” said Kassie Hartendorp.

“These findings should open new discussions about the appropriate policy responses for reducing inflationary pressures. We need to tackle inflation in both the short and the long-run, and to make sure that the costs of our inflation response are falling on those who have benefitted the most over the past few years”, said CTU Policy Director Craig Renney.

“In the long-term, inflation reduction requires investment in those things that will make a consistent difference. We need to tackle rents, energy and transport costs, and to make sure that Kiwis have access to high quality public services. Doing this will not only reduce inflation, it will create the more productive and sustainable future”.

Posted on

Action still required to eliminate the harm caused by engineered stone

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

More needs to be done to protect people who work with engineered stone. Workers in these industries are being exposed to highly hazardous silica dust and fears remain for their health and safety.

This week NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff joined Kathryn Ryan on RNZ’s Nine to Noon to discuss the issue.  Also on the segment was Professor Lin Fritschi, a cancer epidemiologist specialising in occupational causes of cancer:

The issue

Engineered stone is a man-made artificial product that combines crystallised silica and other materials with resin. The silica dust created from cutting, drilling or grinding these materials is extremely hazardous.

Exposure to silica dust can cause silicosis (scarring of the lungs), lung cancer and auto-immune disease. These diseases are incurable and can be fatal.

Evidence from Australia demonstrates the damage caused by engineered stone. Workers in the industry are diagnosed with silicosis at a much higher rate than the general population with ‘1 in 3 workers tested in Queensland showing signs of silicosis’.

A 2021 Australian National Dust Disease Taskforce report found nearly one in four workers exposed to silica dust from engineered stone before 2018 have been diagnosed with silicosis.

Call to action

While silicosis and other diseases caused by silica dust exposure are incurable, they are preventable.

The NZCTU is working with a growing number of unions, academics, and health and safety professionals calling for a ban on engineered stone. Established health and safety principles tell us to eliminate risks whenever possible as a first option – this option is available.

“It’s simple 101 health and safety if you don’t need to do it, then stop doing it”

— NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff

The growing evidence of the harm caused by exposure, and the fact that WorkSafe is having to up enforcement pressure on businesses to manage the risks properly, shows that a ban on all engineered stone products is necessary (with the only exemption for managing or removing engineered stone already in place).

Engineered stone benchtops are a cosmetic choice, and many safe alternatives exist. We can protect workers from life-altering illness by banning this material.

It is clear to us that a ban is only safe option.

Posted on

Working for free for seven weeks – The Gender Pay Gap is not closing fast enough

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

There has been disappointingly little progress in closing the gender pay gap in the last year despite continued low unemployment, wage growth, and strong labour demand says NZCTU Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges following the release of labour market data by Statistics NZ.

The overall gender pay gap has persisted across the past decade.

Last year, the NZCTU calculated that on average women started working effectively for free on 23 November 2022. This year the data shows that this has now closed slightly to 26 November.

NZCTU National Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges said, “Ten years ago women started working for free on 14 November. Despite all the huge strides we have made since then in terms of pay equality, we are still working 36 days a year for free. It underlines the need for more urgent effort from employers and the Government on this issue.”

When ethnicity is taken into consideration, the picture is even starker. The gap for Pasifika women means that in comparison to Pakeha men, they start working for free on 7 October. Māori women start working for free on 20 October. European women start working for free on 21 November. These dates show that women of all ethnicities are still facing discrimination in employment.

“With the mean gender wage gap now at 9.8%, the case for change could not be clearer. All employers should make sure that equal work is paid equally. We need greater pay transparency urgently. Last week’s announcement on pay reporting by the Government is a great start, but we need to go further and faster.

“These results show why the ethnic pay gap must also be reported on. We should also ban clauses in contracts preventing workers discussing their pay and require employers to include pay ranges in job adverts.

“This data underlines why Fair Pay Agreements are critical in New Zealand. They will provide transparency around basic pay for all workers and will ensure that women are not treated unfairly.

“Fair Pay Agreements will help reduce pay gaps and will highlight inequities in workplace pay. Not only are they good for women, but they are also good for all New Zealand workers.”  

Work for free day – women
All Women European Women Māori Women Pacific Peoples Women Asian Women Māori Women
Compared to all men Sun, 26 Nov 2023 Wed, 06 Dec 2023 Fri, 03 Nov 2023 Sat, 21 Oct 2023 Mon, 13 Nov 2023 Tue, 31 Oct 2023
Compared to European men Sat, 11 Nov 2023 Tue, 21 Nov 2023 Fri, 20 Oct 2023 Sat, 07 Oct 2023 Mon, 30 Oct 2023 Wed, 18 Oct 2023

 

Posted on

Proposed Additional Paid Parental Leave Offer Welcomed

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The Labour Party campaign pledge to increase the level of paid parental leave is welcome news for thousands of expectant parents says NZCTU Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges. “Offering an additional 4 weeks of paid leave for the non-primary partner will mean that families will be able to spend more time together during an incredibly important time”.

Ansell-Bridges said “The CTU has long campaigned for extra support for families. We know that many parents want to spend time with their partners during the earliest days, but are prevented from doing so due to financial and work pressures. Overseas this sort of support is common and has helps to engage partners further”.

This CTU is also welcoming the Labour Party’s commitment to reviewing paid parental leave settings after the election. “Changes such as supporting parents through maintaining kiwisaver contributions are welcome, but we need to further to ensure that parents have all the support they need. The CTU has called for New Zealand to adopt international best practice and bring forward a model like that in Iceland, where parents receive 39 weeks paid parental leave support”.

Ansell-Bridges said “Paid parental leave is such an important issue in New Zealand. We hope that the need for additional support for parents should be above politics. We look forward to working with whoever is in office after the election to make sure that additional support is available for New Zealand workers”.

Posted on

Pay transparency announcement a win for workers

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions welcomes today’s announcement on progressing pay transparency in New Zealand.

This morning, Minister for Women Jan Tinetti and Associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Priyanca Radhakrishnan, announced that pay gap reporting would be made mandatory for businesses with more than 250 staff. After four years, this would include businesses with over 100 staff.

NZCTU National Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges said the announcement was a great start to improving the culture of pay transparency.

“We know that a culture of greater transparency will empower working people to continue to improve their pay.”

Ansell-Bridges also encouraged the Government to ensure that ethnic pay gaps would be included as well.

“Research shows us that income inequity is compounded further for ethnic minorities. All marginalised workers need action on pay transparency.

“We think every worker should have access to greater pay transparency and hope to see the range of businesses included increase in the future. We would also like to see prohibitions on pay confidentiality clauses and requirements to advertise pay ranges in job ads.”

Posted on

NZCTU welcomes Commerce Commission’s inquiry into banking sector

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is today welcoming the release of the Commerce Commission interim issues paper on the market study into personal banking services.

NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff said the initial research was staggering.

“Yesterday, Westpac workers were on strike for better wages after an insulting offer. Today, we hear from the Commerce Commission that banks are more profitable here than in comparable economies over the past decade.”

The Commission has said that it will examine the level of profits being made by our biggest banks.

“As a country, we deserve a safe banking sector, one that looks after the needs of New Zealanders. That’s not the same thing as a sector that is drawing huge profits at the expense of consumers and workers.

“Everyone should be contributing to reducing our current cost of living challenges. We fully support the Commerce Commission in its decision to investigate this further – coming off the back of studies by the Reserve Bank and the Treasury which make similar findings.

“Higher profits within the sector should be rewarding those who are directly responsible for the generation – the workers in the banking sector. We would urge Westpac to work with FIRST Union to provide a solution to the current strike.”

Posted on

Confusion and uncertainty casting a cloud on future of Ports of Auckland

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union has warned how uncertainty around new proposals for Ports of Auckland is a threat to the stability of the Auckland and the wider economy.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is growing concern about the direction of the port debate.

The Auckland Council is considering options behind closed doors to relocate the Ports to make way for ‘water features.’

It is also reviewing options to sell an operating lease for the Ports to a global network terminal operator, and has commissioned consultants to seek expressions of interest.

Mr Harrison says there seemed to be no clear idea as to what the end goal was, the costs involved, and how the plan would work in practice.

He says it is unclear how simultaneously privatizing and relocating the Port is going to work let alone the proposed waterfront redevelopment.

“This latest proposal for pools and barbies on the waterfront is simply not serious.”

He says it makes no sense for the Council to commit to massive expenditure on waterfront redevelopment when claiming Auckland was in financial crisis and cutting the budget for parks and libraries for the rest of Auckland.

“It is unclear what is the primary motive – is it to come up with short term band aid for Auckland’s financial issues, is it to hand over commercial real estate to developers, or is it to provide salt water pools for well off central city dwellers?”

Mr Harrison says the primary purpose of the Ports of Auckland was to facilitate trade and the Port was doing a good job at this.

He says on the hoof decision making with no clear strategy for future operations was a dangerous way to approach the future of New Zealand’s major import port.

“Remember that any of these schemes will add to congestion and rising costs for business and consumers if they disrupt port operations.”

The Ports is going through the a period of growth and stability under new leadership and it was a priority not to undermine this positive progress, says Mr Harrison.

“The cost of the failed automation project of the previous management was estimated at a $1.2 billion hit to the economy, and another failed experiment could cause even greater harm.”

Mr Harrison says any attempt to move or relocate port operations would be an extremely complex, expensive and long term project that needed to be part of a wider ports strategy.

He says the Northport option is currently a fantasy given the lack of infrastructure, no existing rail link, no coastal shipping plan, and already congested road links that were vulnerable to extreme weather events.

“Yet we are talking about effectively adding thousands more truck moves on some of the busiest roads in the country if we go down this track.”

Mr Harrison says New Zealand needs a national ports strategy that integrates coastal shipping and rail, with a focus on supply chain resilience in a volatile global environment.

He says the Ports of Auckland should remain in public ownership as a strategic asset that was central to Auckland and New Zealand’s economy.