Category: Unions

Source: Council Of Trade Unions (CTU) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Workers out of pocket $11,500 a year as a result of decades of poor government policy

Major structural changes to the economy have left workers out of pocket and changes are needed to address the imbalance, the Council of Trade Union (CTU) says following the release of a new Productivity Commission report.

“Labour share of income – the proportion of the total income of a country that goes to working people as distinct from the owners of capital – has been dropping for decades as a direct result of government decisions,” CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg says.

“The facts are clear. If wage and salary earners received the same share of the income generated in 2017 as they did in 1981 they would on average have been $11,500 better off. Their share of the total income generated dropped over that period from 58.7 percent to 48.7 percent. This means their annual incomes, plus other benefits such as employer superannuation contributions, would on average have been 21 percent higher in 2017 if their share had kept pace.”

“In the smaller sector of the economy that the Productivity Commission looked at workers, including self-employed people, would on average have been $8,400 better off in 2016*.  Their share of the total income generated dropped over that period from 65.0 percent to 55.5 percent. This means their annual incomes, plus other benefits such as employer superannuation contributions, would on average have been 17 percent higher in 2016 if it had kept pace. ”

“If you look at the figures just over the previous cycle of Government, we see a similar pattern. If wage and salary earners were receiving the same share of the income as they were in 2009, their annual incomes plus other benefits would on average have been $2,500, or 4 percent higher in 2017. Workers in the sector the Commission looked at would on average have had $2,400 more or 5 percent higher annual incomes.”

“The falling labour income share shows that real wages have not been keeping up with income growth.”

“The Productivity Commission has failed to acknowledge the significant part played in this fall in workers’ share of the nation’s income by poor employment law and working people’s loss of bargaining power. They put greatest emphasis on technological change without providing evidence.”

“The largest falls can be identified with wage freezes in the early 1980s, commercialisation and privatisation which boosted profits while cutting wages in the late 1980s, and the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) in the 1990s. The effect of the ECA on labour share of income lasted until employment law changes in 2004 allowed a little of the share to be regained. The positive changes were put into reverse by the 2008-2017 National Government, which led to another steep fall starting in 2009.”

“Technology may have played some role, along with companies making excess profits due to lack of competition, as some research suggests overseas. But we need to look at the evidence in New Zealand and it is hard to dismiss the impact of government policies over a long period since the early 1980s.”

“The Productivity Commission asserts that “New Zealand has not experienced the significant falls in the labour income share seen in other countries over the last two decades.” That ignores the longer run of evidence and the effect of the changes in employment law. New Zealand still has one of the lowest wage and salary shares of the country’s income in the OECD,” Bill Rosenberg says.

Ends

* Note 2016 figures latest available.

The Productivity Commission’s report is available: www.productivity.govt.nz/sites/default/files/The%20Labour%20Income%20Share%20in%20New%20Zealand%20March%202018.pdf

For graphs on the labour share of income produced by Dr Rosenberg for free use, see:

www.union.org.nz/wage-share/

www.union.org.nz/wages-vs-productivity/

www.union.org.nz/labour-share-including-self-employed/

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Source: Council Of Trade Unions (CTU) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Latest economic figures show commentary out of step with the facts

The Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff said that the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures out today showed economic anxiety from some business leaders is a political response, rather than one grounded in evidence.

“There have been some rumblings on the ‘mood of the boardroom’ around economic outlook, but GDP growth hasn’t changed,” he said. “As Treasury and the Reserve Bank have predicted, GDP continues to rise at much the same rate as it has for some time.”

“But it’s time we did better than business as usual. GDP per person rose only 0.1 percent in the three months to December and 0.7 percent in the year – about a third the rate of what it was in the 2000s.”

“Exacerbating a long-term trend of slower growth, returns for working people have been out of step with increasing wealth. As our research showed last year the hourly earnings of low and middle income wage and salary earners went up at half the rate of the highest paid over the last 17 years. On top of this, around one third of workers are in insecure jobs.”

“Decisions around employment and wage rises can be taken with confidence by both businesses and Government, with the figures tracking along previous projections. It’s fine for chief executives and bank economists to have political opinions and feelings, but these alone shouldn’t form the basis for employment policy settings. We’re ready to work with both business and policy writers to create more high-wage jobs that support sustainable development and healthy lives for New Zealanders.”

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Source: Council Of Trade Unions (CTU) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Your chance to decide what’s fair – Tax Working Group open for feedback

The Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sam Huggard says participation by working people and users of public services is vital for a fair outcome in the Government’s Tax Working Group consultation process. “People in paid work make up a huge proportion of the Government’s revenue stream through their income tax, as well as benefiting from the social services and protection powered by tax,” he says.

“Whether you drive on a road, ride in a bus or cycle to work – before you even get there your day has been improved by tax. Everyone in New Zealand is a user of our health services, and everyone benefits from the education that produces capable citizens. Tax is the way we protect our quality of life so we can all enjoy a stable and safe society.”

“Some countries place more emphasis on involving taxpayers in decisions about funding public services, through education and civic engagement. The Council of Trade Unions wants widespread involvement in the Tax Working Group. We will work with other community NGOs like ActionStation and Hui E! to improve the understanding of tax in New Zealand.”

“Decisions which affect all of us, and disproportionately impact on the most vulnerable in society, should be made inclusively. We’d like to see a process that asks everyone about the public services they value and the social outcomes they see as fair. The aim should be to make our tax arrangements as democratic and sustainable as possible.”

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Source: Council Of Trade Unions (CTU) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: What do a nurse, an early childhood teacher and a medical transcriptionist have in common?

They are all waiting on equal pay. And today, early childhood teacher Chloe Lundie-Hodge, neonatal intensive care nurse Emma Morgan and medical transcriptionist Anne Shanks presented the signatures of over eight and a half thousand other equal pay supporters to Dr Jackie Blue in Wellington.

“On International Women’s Day, it’s heartening to know that so many other New Zealanders want to see equal pay for all women now,” New Zealand Educational Institute member Chloe said. “I also really appreciated that the Human Rights Commission has held an open forum for women to tell their stories for a submission to the United Nations. There are many steps to full equality for women in New Zealand, but getting the pay equity principles into law and better funding education roles like mine needs to happen this year.”

New Zealand Nurses Organisation member Emma told Dr Blue that because nursing has been seen as ‘women’s work’ the intense responsibility of her role is not reflected in her pay. “Our skill literally means the difference between life and death for very fragile premature or ill babies. My job can be emotionally intense, and we put in long hours, but we do it because we change families’ lives for the better. All we are asking is for society to take another look at the value nurses bring, and whether that’s fairly recognised.”

Medical transcriptionist Anne thanked her union, the Public Service Association for taking up an equal pay claim on behalf of admin and clerical workers. “The funny thing is, health administrative roles used to be paid more and seen as a ‘specialist’ skill several decades ago when it was done mostly by men. The PSA is willing to unpick the complex history of our pay and bargain on our behalf, and I’m grateful for them standing up for us. But the principle of our claim is very simple. In 2018, we shouldn’t be paid less just because mostly women now tend to do admin. That’s been the law for over forty years.”

The Council of Trade Unions is campaigning for a better equal pay law for all women to be able to take claims, within the next 250 days.

To download photos: www.dropbox.com/sh/4u72c67f6t5r0e3/AAABl8g4L_1VBrrvEM5-Y5nWa?dl=0

To see video of the presentation: www.facebook.com/togetherunionnz/videos/1821476914569309/

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Source: Council Of Trade Unions (CTU) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Council of Trade Unions pleased to report swift progress on pay equity principles

Richard Wagstaff, CTU President said today he was pleased to be able to formally announce the swift progress made in the tripartite union, business and public sector Joint Working Group on Pay Equity Principles, which reported back to Government last week. “This proves there is solid agreement across the board that 2018 is the year women finally get a clear process to access the wage justice they’ve been denied for over 40 years” Mr Wagstaff said.

“This Government picked up on pay equity as a priority, where the last Government veered off track and undermined what business and unions had already agreed to. The Joint Working Group has swiftly and constructively agreed that claims should be easier to lodge, that the best way to value claims is to find the most relevant male-dominated occupations, and that we should put these principles into the good law we already have.”

“I’m confident that the strength of the recommendations from both unions and the business sector will steer Government to get the pay equity principles into law this parliamentary year. This Thursday is International Women’s Day, and we’ll be presenting our equal pay petition to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner on behalf of all women making claims. I’m proud to be able to tell them we’ve just made concrete recommendations to Government on how 2018 can be the year we end wage injustice for women in New Zealand.”

The CTU will be presenting the ‘Treat Her Right’ petition with over 8.5 thousand signatures to EEO Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue on International Women’s Day, the 8th of March. Further details can be accessed here.

The CTU is now calling on the Government to take the next step by putting the pay equity principles into law before women in New Zealand start ‘working for free’ for the rest of the year, within the next 253 days.

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