Category: Unions

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NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Iain Rennie, CNZM
Secretary and Chief Executive to the Treasury

Dear Secretary,

Undue restrictions on restricted briefings

This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been formally invited, by the Treasury, to attend the briefing. After the CTU replied to the invitation, Treasury appears to have changed its rules for attendance. Our application to attend was then rejected.

The Treasury now states that “Representatives from peak bodies, professional bodies, unions, universities, industry bodies, industry information services, and advocacy groups, among others, would no longer be allowed to attend”. That means bodies such as Business New Zealand would not be able to attend, nor would organisations such as Local Government New Zealand, Child Poverty Action Group, Aotearoa 350, or Tax Justice Aotearoa. Alongside the CTU these are all national organisations with a strong and legitimate interest in understanding how the government is investing its resources.  

Treasury said the purpose of restricted briefings is to provide participants with time to consider materials before public release to enable more accurate reporting and to assist “in transparency and accountability to the public”. The Treasury has therefore concluded that other groups, such as the CTU, no longer have a time-sensitive need for the materials. This despite the fact that attendance by bodies such as these has been the norm for many years without incident.

We must object to this interpretation in the strongest terms. Groups – including the CTU – affected by the new guidelines regularly provide their analysis of Budget figures to their own readers, who number in the hundreds of thousands, and provide expert analysis to journalists attending the restricted briefings. Both functions assist in transparency and accountability to the public, which is the purpose of restricted briefings.

How does it promote the interests of “transparency and accountability to the public” or assist public understanding when external organisations such as Bloomberg will be able to tell foreign investors what’s in the Government books, and provide considered analysis, faster than organisations representing New Zealand workers, business, and taxpayers?

The CTU alone represents 27 Trade Unions with more than 300,000 members. They have a keen interest in understanding the financial situation of the Government – many of whose employment and income rely on the Crown Accounts. Timely analysis and communications from the CTU are essential. Could you please explain why their need for information is less important than that of financial markets?  

The lock-up is also an opportunity to engage with the Minister of Finance and the Secretary of the Treasury. To ask questions about the contents of the report, and to have answers to questions heard by media. There is no other opportunity to do that outside of this lock-up. Why should banks be able to ask the Minister questions about economic growth, but other groups find themselves shut out?

Lock-ups do not just bring analysts into a room with access to advance copy of the fiscal documents. Attendees at restricted briefings can also ask Treasury officials how complex estimates were generated. Being able to ask officials about the estimates helps analysts provide better-informed reports with fewer errors. It also means that analysts who misrepresent the figures have little excuse for their own errors.

We sympathise with Treasury’s predicament. When more people wish to attend restricted briefings than can be accommodated, it has to choose who to disappoint. But there has never been a HYEFU briefing where the room was full, and where those who attended couldn’t be seated. This is not a capacity issue.

Democracy and public scrutiny are not supported by locking social partners and non-financial institutions out of the lock-up. This is a retrograde step, which appears to have nothing to do with capacity, security, or with a desire to ensure that complex documents such as the HYEFU are communicated well to audiences across New Zealand.

The CTU strongly urges the Treasury to reconsider these guidelines and your decision to rescind our access. We look forward to a timely response to this letter.

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Mackintosh

Acting NZCTU President

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New Zealand wharfies join international day of action against Qube Ports

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

New Zealand maritime workers will be rallying in support of Australian workers at Qube Ports on Monday 16 December 2024.

Australian wharfies at Qube are stopping work at ten ports in an International Day of Action to expose Qube Ports’ refusal to take safety, fatigue and work-life balance concerns seriously during bargaining for a new employment agreement covering more than 1000 workers.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says New Zealand wharfies will be supporting the Maritime Union of Australia in their struggle, with delegates heading across the Tasman in both directions, an international video link, and protest events to be held in two New Zealand ports.

TAURANGA informational picket Monday 16 December (1pm–3pm)
Hull Road, Mt. Maunganui (Port gates)

GISBORNE informational picket Monday 16 December (Morning)
Corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Hirini Street

Maritime Union of Australia delegates and MUNZ officials will be attending these pickets and available to talk to media.

Mr Findlay says Qube management need to be aware their actions in Australia will have consequences for their brand and credibility internationally unless they change their attitude towards their workforce.

He says the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) will be “acting as one.”

Qube Ports in Australia is an ASX listed behemoth which has extracted mega-profits in recent years from the productivity delivered by their hard working employees, and has doggedly refused to sit down and negotiate a new agreement with their workforce. 

The MUA says Qube has repeatedly dismissed safety and fatigue concerns and declared it unprofitable to operate a business which takes safety seriously. 

While wharfies’ pay has gone backwards against inflation, executive bonuses and shareholder dividends have soared. Over the last four years, Qube profits have jumped by 148%.

The MUA has repeatedly called on the company to return to the bargaining table and engage meaningfully with the safety, fatigue and work-life balance concerns that Qube employees are raising.

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Reappointment of Tony Gibson to maritime industry board role a travesty

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union says the reappointment of disgraced former Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson to a director position at Marsden Maritime Holdings (MMH) is a travesty and an insult to the memory of workers killed and injured on the job.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says workers are in disbelief at the absolute lack of judgement shown by MMH.

Mr Gibson was found guilty in November 2024 of a health and safety charge stemming from his former role as CEO of Port of Auckland Limited.

Maritime NZ laid charges against Mr Gibson under the Health and Safety at Work Act after the death of a stevedore, Pala’amo Kalati, in 2020.

Marsden Maritime Holdings is a New Zealand Exchange-listed (NZX) company, which has a 50% stake in Northport, a marina, and significant industrial land holdings.

Mr Findlay says the news shocked workers who lived through the Gibson years at Port of Auckland, which saw deaths and serious injuries, sustained attacks on the workforce, and a failed automation project that cost Aucklanders hundreds of millions of dollars before Mr Gibson’s resignation.

Mr Findlay says there is a culture of impunity for directors and senior managers.

“What more does it take for a public company to say time to go?”

Mr Findlay says it’s a case of “jobs for the boys” and a glaring example of the double standard applied, as workers would be sacked for far less serious offences and find it hard to get back into work.

“The corporate elite need to get the message that the working-class majority are getting sick and tired of seeing this entitled self-serving attitude.”

He says the Maritime Union congratulates Port of Auckland, a minority shareholder in MMH, for its principled decision voting against Mr Gibson’s reappointment.

Mr Findlay says the stance of the New Zealand Shareholders Association who directed proxy votes against the reappointment was also a responsible course of action.

He says MMH CEO Rosie Mercer should retract her praise of Mr Gibson.

“Let’s be absolutely clear – there are families who will be missing someone this Christmas because of avoidable workplace deaths. Marsden Maritime Holdings should be ashamed at this insult to the memories of workers who lost their lives.”

He says the Maritime Union would be following the issue up with Northland Regional Council and would be seeking the removal of Mr Gibson from the MMH Board.

The Maritime Union would continue to campaign for corporate manslaughter laws.

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Six years of work wasted – Holidays Act reform now years away

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Brooke van Velden has wasted six years of work from businesses, unions, and government by binning planned Holidays Act reforms, said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh in response to today’s announcement from Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety.

 “The Minister has cynically kicked the can on Holiday Act reform even further down the road, meaning an even longer delay for workers trying to get their basic rights to leave recognised,” said Mackintosh.

“The Government is again making decisions that are bad for workers by departing from an agreement that ensured any changes wouldn’t be damaging to working people.

 “When this review commenced, businesses and unions agreed that Holidays Act reforms would not result in leaving workers worse off. The change in direction announced today throws that agreement up in the air.

“Workers and businesses have asked for clarity around their Holidays Act requirements. Rather than getting on with the job, all the Minister has done today is ensure greater uncertainty for even longer.

“Her proposed new model could also mean that every worker would need to record their hours worked, which would add complexity to the system. The Minister needs to listen to workers and business as social partners and implement what was already agreed.

“In her speech today, the Minister mentioned she was listening to employers and “experts” but failed to mention workers. This is more evidence that she is making decisions for only the employer side of the employment relationship, not the millions of workers in this country.

 “After six years of work and tripartite agreement on the future of the Holidays Act, today the Minister has taken us back to the start. In doing so, she also appears to have taken protections for workers off the table.

“This is yet another example of this Government deliberately making life harder for working people,” said Mackintosh.

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Government ferry announcement fails to launch

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Union representing Cook Strait ferry workers has expressed amazement at the Government’s announcement today on the Cook Strait ferries.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says the Government has just kicked the can down the road on hard decisions once again.

“The only real announcement today was Nicola Willis announcing she will soon be sacked from the Finance portfolio.”

The appointment of Winston Peters as Minister for Rail and the setting up of a Schedule 4 entity to procure ferries were widely expected, he says.

He says no costs were provided by the Finance Minister and the Government was using commercial confidentiality as a fig leaf to conceal how its decisions had led New Zealand into a very expensive dead end.

Mr Findlay says the Finance Minister’s claims that her ferry deal would be cheaper than the iRex project had no credibility.

“How can she make such bold assurances when she hasn’t got a deal or even a confirmed plan?”

He says the only clear information available was that the ferries would be smaller and less capable, with no information about port side infrastructure.

The suggestion of private operators being involved created more confusion, he says.

“What New Zealand wanted today was certainty and a path forward, and what we got was an admission of failure from the Minister of Finance.”

Mr Findlay says the appointment of Winston Peters as Minister of Rail was an interesting situation, as Mr Peters understood the New Zealand rail network requires rail enabled ferries, unlike the Minister of Finance.

He says there is still an opportunity for New Zealanders to insist the Government procure fit for purpose rail enabled ferries.

“In the meantime, the future of this essential infrastructure hangs in the balance.”

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NZCTU slams Government’s ferry fiasco

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is slamming the Government for failing to show any leadership on infrastructure delivery after they revealed today, they have no plan to replace the Cook Strait ferries a year on from their decision to cancel the iReX project.

“Today’s announcement by the Minister of Finance showed why New Zealanders shouldn’t trust this Government on infrastructure – despite wasting huge amounts of money and time, they still have no coherent plan to replace the Cook Strait ferries,” said Acting NZCTU President Rachel Mackintosh.

“It has been a year since the Government cancelled the existing contract and we know little more now than we did then. We have no information on where replacement ferries are coming from, how much they will cost, who will pay for them, or how the port infrastructure will be delivered. We don’t know how much it will cost to cancel the existing order.

“New Zealand had contracts for ships that had been set to arrive in February 2026 and September 2026. We are now planning on having ships possibly arrive sometime in 2029.

“The ferries are reaching the end of their service life, and all we have been given another working group. The original project should never have been cancelled.

“Crucially, it now appears as if the decision has been made to take rail-enabled ships off the table. The Government is now talking about being “rail compatible”. This will mean using lorries to put freight on and off ferries. This will take longer, is less efficient, will raise costs for users, and will likely increase emissions.

“The Government announcement also appears keen to privatise the service, stating that they are open to proposals from the private sector. This would likely mean that a private entity will take profit out of a service currently being run by government.

“Workers on the Cook Strait ferries, service users, and New Zealanders all deserve better than this. This is a plan to have a plan at some point in the future. What is needed is action,” said Mackintosh.

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NZCTU urges political parties to vote down extreme anti-worker bill

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting President Rachel Mackintosh is calling on political parties to vote down Brooke van Velden’s Employment Relations (Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes) Amendment Bill, as it would undermine the ability of workers to engage in industrial action and may even lead to workers losing pay for simply doing the job they were employed to do.

“Enabling pay deductions for partial strike action is bad lawmaking and will have the opposite effect of what the Minister is claiming to achieve through this law change,” said Mackintosh.

“Allowing employers to deduct wages for partial strikes allows for the intimidation of workers and may mean that partial strike action will be abandoned, forcing workers to fully withdraw labour, which will escalate disputes.

“Industrial action is supposed to help level the power imbalances in employment relationships that favour employers. This change undermines that and tips the balance of power even further in favour of employers by introducing a punitive response to legitimate industrial action.

“It is absurd that the Minister considers that work-to-rule is a form of partial strike. Work-to-rule just means following the letter of your employment agreement, for example choosing not to change a scheduled shift or complete a task that is outside the scope of your role.

“What this will mean is that a worker could be punished financially for simply doing the job they were employed to do, and not even engaging in strike action.

“The Bill currently before the House is in contradiction with our international commitments to provide workers the right to organise and collectively bargain, and to provide adequate protection to workers against acts of anti-union discrimination in employment.

“We believe that the Government should be proactively enabling and engaging in upcoming public service collective bargaining rather than creating loopholes and escapes to undermine the country’s employment relations framework.

“The only winners of this Bill will be the lawyers. This legislation will lead to increased litigation, and prolonging bargaining and industrial action at the expense of both workers and employers.

“Christopher Luxon is once again allowing the ACT party to advance its extreme anti-worker agenda in this latest round of brazen attacks on the rights of working people,” said Mackintosh.

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Review of relationships and sexuality education welcomed

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

The ERO report from a review of relationships and sexuality education in our schools is welcomed by the NZPPTA, says President Chris Abercrombie.

“The report has shown us that there is widespread support from parents, whānau and students for relationships and sexuality education (RSE), but there is a need to improve consistency across the RSE curriculum as a whole.”

“In an increasingly fractured and online world, it is important that parents and whānau know what their rangatahi are learning at school. Nowhere is this more important than in relationships and sexuality education.”

“The 21 key findings and the seven recommendations will make a welcome difference to the experience of RSE for all of our ākonga. In particular, the recommendation to move away from the current ad hoc practice towards a more prescriptive and structured approach is one we support in this case. RSE is too important to be left to chance, and often much of the material is outside of the lived experience of those delivering the curriculum. A structured approach ensures age-appropriate, identity-affirming information is delivered across the board.”

“Students have made it clear what they want to learn, and when. It is essential that student voice is recognised when the curriculum is reviewed. It is also important that any changes are properly resourced. The addition of appropriate teaching resources and professional learning for teachers should also be considered, to support those delivering RSE.”

“We acknowledge the challenge that principals and schools face when consulting with their communities on the RSE guidelines, and that this process can be difficult and divisive. We support the recommendation to consider moving from a two-yearly consultation requirement to one that requires schools to inform parents and whānau about what they plan to teach, and how, before teaching it.

This knowledge will enable parents, whānau, and their young person to make decisions about what is right for them. For the minority that want less RSE, they would be better able to identity the lessons they wish to withdraw from, and the same would be true for those who wish to know more. With a clear understanding of what is not being taught, they can supplement the learning in their own homes”.

“We know that often there is a narrow view of what RSE is. In most cases it is about helping young people understand how to navigate friendships and thinking about others in an inclusive way. These are key skills for being an active member of your community and wider society.”

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Lockout of disability workers before Christmas unacceptable

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting President Rachel Mackintosh is condemning the actions of disability support provider Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau Trust in deciding to respond to legitimate strike action by locking out their workers with just a few weeks before Christmas.

“The actions of Te Roopu Taurima are totally unacceptable and represent a flagrant attack on the rights and conditions of their workers,” said Mackintosh.

“These workers are striking over their basic right to secure jobs and a liveable income, resisting their employer’s attempts to restrict secondary employment and introduce discriminatory 90-day trials.

“Locking out low-paid disability workers before Christmas is shameful. Workers who support the disabled in our communities should be valued and celebrated, not bullied, and coerced to accept an unjust deal.

“Lockouts are an extreme and irresponsible course of action and are never an acceptable way of resolving employment disputes. In this case the lockout was also called illegally as the employer didn’t give 14 days’ notice or outline their negotiating demands.

“It seems that Christopher Luxon’s government has emboldened employers to follow their lead and treat workers badly,” said Mackintosh.

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New Zealand schooling system should provide for all, not the chosen few – PPTA

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“A two-tier system of schooling, where one tier is desperately under-funded and under-resourced, while another tiny tier is funded to succeed, is not the way we do things, and not what most New Zealanders want for our public education system”, he said.  

He was commenting on the announcement today of five more charter schools, which will open next year. 

“It is extremely disappointing to see hard-earned taxes being poured into a tiny number of charter schools when there are so many existing schools around the country in need. For example, one of the proposed charter schools, the BUSY school in Christchurch, is offering what all New Zealand students who require additional learning support deserve. At the moment, many of them are not having their needs met, as the alternative education system has been left to languish under successive governments.” 

Apparently, the small number of young people whose applications for the BUSY school are successful, will have access to the national curriculum as well as a vocational curriculum to improve their employment opportunities, and they will be provided with a wrap around support system.  

“Every young person at risk of falling through the cracks at school deserves this – not just a handful of students chosen at the whim of a sponsor. This is an island in an ocean of need.” 

Chris Abercrombie said it broke teachers’ hearts to see extremely niche schools, such as a Remuera-based French language school, being funded with public money when state schools needed more teachers, building upgrades and pastoral and learning support.   

Chris Abercrombie said an international education report (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) released overnight shows clearly that Aotearoa New Zealand students need a lot more learning and pastoral support to improve their achievement.  

“Yet the Government blithely announces today it is funding an elite language school. Using public money to fund such an elite school amidst so much actual need shows how out of touch this Government is with what is actually happening in Aotearoa New Zealand.”