Unions – Page 31 – rnzngin Fifth Estate

August 8, 2023

Funding holes in National’s policies deeply worrying for workers – E tū

Source: Etu Union

E tū, the biggest private sector union in Aotearoa New Zealand, is deeply concerned about the prospect of a National-led Government’s ability to fund essential services and infrastructure, after figures released today show their policies create a large fiscal shortfall.

The figures have been released by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, using all the information the National Party have published about their own policy costings to date, as well as data from Treasury and the Reserve Bank. It reveals a shortfall of $3.3bn to $5.2bn, numbers which do not even include major spending promises that remain uncosted by National.

E tū Assistant National Secretary, Rachel Mackintosh, says the National Party must front up now about how they would pay for their election policies.

“National’s promises are expensive, and the party simply cannot make it work without new revenue or significant cuts,” Rachel says.

“The Council of Trade Unions have had to carry out this work because National are still not being upfront with the public about their financial plan. It should really be National’s own responsibility to explain to the voting public how they are going to balance the books. The closer we get to Election Day, the more worrying it is that the National Party can’t present a credible explanation for how they’ll pay for their promises.”

Rachel notes that other parties have been able to present their numbers – Labour through Budget 2023, and the Greens and ACT with their published alternative budgets.

“With National not even able to make their own announced policies stack up financially, we are deeply worried about what this would mean for continued funding of key services. The money must come from somewhere, and so adequately funding things like health and education is at serious risk.”

E tū Co-President, Muriel Tunoho, has worked in community health for decades. She is particularly concerned about what the budget hole would mean for health funding.

“National underfunding the health system is a tale as old as time,” Muriel says.

“People working in the community health spaces are particularly worried because we’ve been forgotten about before. While we have made some gains under Labour, there is still so much more we need to make the health system work for everyone, especially our most marginalised communities.

“Not funding health properly means real hardship for families in Aotearoa. Both the workers and the service users suffer. I have seen poor health outcomes result in all sorts of huge challenges for whānau, it’s heartbreaking.

“E tū members in health need pay equity, safer staffing, and many more improvements. These things require a proper boost to health funding, which we have been campaigning for. Seeing that National can’t even fund their headline election policies is a clear sign that community health would be neglected again.

“Quite simply, National need to turn their policy programme around so that it helps everyone, not just the wealthy few. Now is not the time for tax cuts for the most well-off. It’s the time for serious investment in the communities of Aotearoa.”

ENDS

August 3, 2023

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.

August 2, 2023

Secondary teachers to vote on collective agreement offer

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“We are very pleased that the Government has acted in good faith and accepted the panel’s recommendations,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president.

“We commend the arbitration panel for its mahi and its commitment to finding a satisfactory settlement of our collective agreement. Of course, it is not everything we wanted but it’s a significant step on the path to making secondary teaching a profession that people want to join and stay in.”

The Ministry of Education is expected to present PPTA Te Wehengarua within the next 24 to 48 hours with an offer for settlement which is based on the panel’s recommendations along with items agreed to before arbitration. These include more pastoral care staffing for secondary schools and pro-rated planning and marking time for part-time secondary teachers.

PPTA Te Wehengarua members will vote on the offer via electronic ballot next week. “It is now in the members’ hands – and the executive will be recommending they accept the offer.”

August 2, 2023

Unemployment data continues to show stronger economy

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Today Statistics New Zealand released data showing the labour market holding strong, with unemployment at 3.6% and record numbers of people in work, working a record number of hours.

NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said “There are 113,000 more people in work than this time last year, with more than 2.9 million people in work. The unemployment rate in New Zealand is now the same as Australia, and better than the US, the UK, and the OECD average. This data shows a stable labour market, with continuing labour demand.”

“This data underlines the recovery from COVID, with employment in tourism related industries returning to their pre-COVID levels. Overall, there was annual employment growth in the 13 of the 17 sectors measured. The employment rate for women increased to 65.4% the highest rate since the series began in March 1986.”

Wages growth moderated in the statistics. The Labour Cost Index remained at 4.3%, despite the Minimum Wage rising in this quarter. Average hourly earnings growth slowed to 6.9%, down from 7.5% in September last year. Private sector pay growth continues to outperform public sector growth. “This is a strong set of labour market data. There are still many areas where more work is needed. Maori, Pasifika, and female unemployment is still too high. Too many young people are not in education, employment or training. But this data does not suggest an economy in crisis. More people being in work, earning more, should be celebrated.”

August 1, 2023

Billions missing to deliver National Party promises, says NZCTU

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions has today released costings showing a current funding shortfall of at least $3.3-5.2 billion in the National Party’s tax and spending plans.

The true gap is likely to be even larger, as many of National’s publicly stated policy commitments were either uncosted or were too vague to be included in the analysis.

NZCTU Economist Craig Renney says the shortfall raises concerns about the impact on crucial public services that New Zealanders rely upon.

“Our costings show National has spent around two dollars for every dollar available over the next
three years. Further billions are likely from the policies that they have not yet costed or will likely announce on the campaign trail.

“A shortfall of this magnitude can only be accounted for by raising debt, increasing other taxes, or slashing funding for critical public services like healthcare, education, and police.

“Given National has ruled out raising debt or increasing taxes, this can only mean billions of dollars in cuts to our already stretched public services. Cuts of this scale would have severe consequences for the people who depend on these services and the workers who deliver them.

“National must be upfront about where these cuts would come from. New Zealanders deserve to know long before the election what programmes will be cut, what investment wouldn’t get made, and how National will balance the books – because on these plans they aren’t.”

The NZCTU took on this task of costing National’s policies as, in contrast to other opposition parties in recent elections, National has yet to release its fully costed fiscal plan.

“It is essential for opposition parties to be transparent and accountable by sharing comprehensive fiscal plans. National cannot promise billions in tax cuts and pretend there will be no impact on our stretched public services.

“If National disagrees with this analysis, we invite them to present a fully costed alternative budget of their own, one that costs all of their policies and is clear about where the money will come from, including which public services will be cut.”

Methodology

The NZCTU’s analysis is based on publicly available information from the Treasury and IRD. The NZCTU has used the most generous interpretations when costing National’s policies. Even when disagreeing with National’s costings of their own policies, the NZCTU used National’s figures.

According to Treasury, there is $3.5 billion of new operational spending available in each of the 3 years of the next term.

Treasury also notes that at least $2.8 billion in cost pressures funding will be needed in each year to maintain our existing public services. This figure is just to keep delivering the same services as the previous year. It does not account for population increase, demographic changes, or new services.

That leaves around $700 million in ‘new’ money that is available each year, or $4.2 billion over three years.

National has set out between $7.5 billion and $9.4 billion of new spending over that period that we can identify based on their tax and spending commitments that are able to be costed. This is two dollars for every dollar available, leading to a fiscal gap of at least $3.3 billion to $5.2 billion.

No costs have been assigned to National’s vaguer policy commitments, although they should provide that analysis. This costing also assumes no further policies from National during the election campaign, or any governing partners’ policies. It also provided no contingency for emerging needs such as natural disasters or future Budgets. This is the minimum amount that they will need to cut to balance the books.

The analysis and the numbers within were reviewed by Dr Geoff Bertram, Economist and Former Senior Associate at the Institute of Government and Policy Studies at Victoria University.

The figures do not take into account the National Party’s transport announcement yesterday, though as these are delivered through the National Land Transport Fund, they will not have a material impact on the NZCTU’s costings.

July 30, 2020