CTU Media Release
17.10.2007

We are what we say we are
We do what we say we'll do

SPEECH BY CAROL BEAUMONT, CTU SECRETARY
CTU CONFERENCE
WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2007

Fairness, respect, work, unions, voice for workers.

That's what we're about.

Protecting and enhancing workers rights, stronger public services, and higher wages. This is the cornerstone of our political strategy. This is what will lead to a sustainable society.

Today we state clearly and firmly that unions have the mandate to speak on behalf of our members, we speak for working people and there is a greater role for unions in politics.

It's up to us. We are the union movement. You are here because you believe in the values of fairness and respect. All of us are here because we care about others and because we want to contribute to creating the sort of workplaces, communities and NZ we want for ourselves and our children and grandchildren.

Developing our political capacity is critically important. We are committed to defending and promoting democracy which has long been valued in NZ.

Our political strategy will promote the key issues that our members and potential members see as important - workers rights, public services, higher wages.

The union movement is positive, growing and determined. We have grown strongly - up 75,000 since 1999. We have become a more active and visible union movement over recent years.

Across the Tasman, the ACTU campaign on rights at work in the face of a hostile Government has really resonated with the Australian public. High public support for the Progressive and Spotless workers here indicates this would be true in NZ too.

Last year union leadership and solidarity at all levels played a crucial role in winning the Progressive dispute, as well as lifting our credibility as a union movement to a new high. The 28 day lockout of more than 500 workers highlighted the hugely influential role that an active and united union movement can play, both in supporting vulnerable workers with a just claim, but also in safeguarding important human rights guaranteed to us by international law.

And most importantly, it highlighted that the community backed us, evidenced in no small part by the over $400,000 that was raised to support the locked out workers.

This year, Spotless Services tried it on. And again, a strong and unified union movement, with community support, forced that company to back down on its attempts to starve the lowest paid workers in our hospitals out of their just claim for national parity.

Many of the delegates here were instrumental in those victories. In both cases the public supported us in resistance to corporate bullying.

I want to talk now about our core campaign issues - enhancing workers rights, stronger public services, and higher wages, which combined we believe will lead to a more sustainable society. These are the issues we know New Zealanders want us to articulate.

The first of these is your rights at work.

A fundamental right that New Zealand workers expect is the right to be treated fairly. They expect to be listened to, and respected. They expect to have a fair hearing.

Last year an attempt to introduce a law stripping workers of their rights during the first 90 days in a new job was resoundingly rejected by working people, who knew that the bill would make it easier for employers to get rid of people for no good reason.

Working people didn't tolerate this attack on their basic rights. They saw it as unfair. And they will not tolerate it if it comes up again. This issue cuts to the core of our basic values as a country, issues of fairness and respect. We expect a government that will protect the right of all workers to a fair hearing, and we challenge anyone to front up and tell us why this shouldn't be the case.

Workers also expect the right to have a say on things at work that affect them. We want to keep building support for worker participation on key issues such as health and safety and the right to learn new skills. What can be more fundamental than for a worker to be sure that when they enter the workplace they will leave it at the end of their shift, healthy, safe - and alive.

This means building on the participation systems, envisaged by the Health and Safety in Employment Act, and developing workplaces in which employees can play a responsible role in keeping themselves safe.

We want to see progress on minimum rest and lunch breaks, enhanced paid parental leave, and tackling excessive hours. One in five employees work more than 50 hours a week, partly driven by low pay rates.

We want to see greater support for hours of work and work practices that take account of family, caring responsibilities and 'whole of life' needs. Flexible hours of work will be an essential part of the modern workplace.

We want to introduce measures to address casualisation, labour hire and those on precarious work arrangements.

New Zealanders expect and demand high quality public services that are accessible to all. Stronger and better public services form the next plank of our political strategy.

Those services, underpinned by a social security system, are often referred to as the 'social wage' and are essential to ensure that all people are able to participate in their communities.

Public sector workers make public services work for New Zealanders. This requires an appropriately skilled, trained and adequately remunerated workforce.

Sustainable funding is needed to guarantee quality care in health, to guarantee universal access to learning through a quality public education sector for New Zealanders, and for the public services that we expect. This includes: - Quality public services developed by workers and citizens. - A fully funded quality public education system, responsive to learners needs. - To maintain and improve our public health system - Public investment in housing, roading, infrastructure and public transport - And keeping the 'public' in public services - not privatised.

We oppose the privatisation of assets and services by central and local government, and are concerned that public private partnerships are a backdoor way of doing this.

The constant attacks from the business community on government spending are misplaced. We are in a period that requires a high level of collective investment into health, skills and other areas. We want momentum maintained on investment.

We know that while some of us are feeling better off, many of us believe that our incomes are not as high as they should be and there are others who are struggling to make ends meet on the minimum wage.

Those of you who work in the service sectors are amongst the most vulnerable and disadvantaged - in jobs such as catering, cleaning, hospitality and aged care.

Low wages are now an intrinsic barrier to the economic transformation of New Zealand. Low wages are embedded in this country. The CTU accepts that for overall wages to rise there will need to be sustained lifts in productivity along with a much stronger distributional impact through collective bargaining.

There is a strong case for a three pronged approach to address low pay. Firstly, that the Government supports an increase in the minimum wage to a level that is two-thirds of the average wage, secondly that the Employment Relations Act must be significantly amended to genuinely promote industry and multi-employer collective bargaining and thirdly continuing to link workforce development including decent pay and conditions to sustainable industry development.

And so higher wages are the next plank of our political strategy. We will campaign to lift wages to close the gap with wage levels in Australia.

Right now, the minimum wage in New Zealand is only 70 per cent of the Australian federal minimum wage. It has certainly risen a lot in recent years, 61 per cent since 1999, in striking contrast to the 14 per cent increase over ten years from 1990. We encourage future governments to build on this progress. Low wages cannot not be tolerated in this country, and the floor that we create through a minimum wage, must be a wage that is livable.

lthough there have been significant increases in the minimum wage in recent years, there is also evidence of widening income disparities. One way of reducing this disparity is to adopt indexation at an adequate level.

The most effective way to ensure that the minimum wage is set at a reasonable level is to index it to the average wage. We are calling today for a minimum wage to be fixed at two thirds of the average wage. This would put the minimum wage at $15/hour. We have a strong case. Today we are releasing the CTU submission to government for an increase in the minimum wage.

Working people want to see minimum standards in wages and conditions across their industry or sector, regardless of their employer. Industry standards to ensure there is no 'race to the bottom' on wages. We need to see wages go the other way, to catch up with the 30 per cent wage gap with Australia.

In addition to lifting the minimum wage the Employment Relations Act needs to be revised to ensure that multi-employer and industry bargaining is firmly established.

Many employers agree that wages are too low. They also recognise that it is difficult for one employer to move too far ahead of competitors.

However they still resist industry bargaining which could provide a stable platform for attracting workers to the sector, retaining them and promoting transferable skills.

Employers need to recognise that the workplace of the future cannot be created on the basis of poor pay and conditions and that cooperation around productivity and union engagement needs not only workplace initiatives but also a robust industry basis.

For New Zealand to succeed, we need Maori workers to succeed. Maori workers must be at the heart of the Maori economic development agenda, in particular in workforce development through addressing skills, lifelong learning and higher wages. Protecting and enhancing workers rights, stronger public services, and higher wages.

These are the planks of our political strategy. They are our lines in the sand. The territory on which we will campaign in election year. Importantly, they spell out a vision beyond 2008.

We want to know where all political parties stand on the protection and enhancement of work rights; stronger public services and higher wages. And importantly, we want to know what they plan to do about them.

We think these measures will lead to a more sustainable society.

I want to talk now about how we are going to go about doing this.

Today, we are launching our political strategy and signaling our core platforms. From today, it is up to us to implement our plan.

Unions are already working hard to improve our political work and it is critical we do so in order that democracy in NZ is not undermined. We need to give people the reason to be political - to have a say and to be involved including in the next General Election.

New Zealanders can be cynical, disinterested or even hostile to politics or politicians. This creates an environment where people don't bother engaging in political processes including the elections. Not participating, including not voting favours the interests of the privileged few. Unions through the CTU as the largest democratic organisation in NZ have a responsibility to work hard in changing this situation of disinterest.

Fom today, the CTU and affiliated unions are committed to lifting our game. We need to both broaden and deepen political interest and activity by workers and their families. Passionately articulating the core issues that matter to workers and showing that workers together in unions can and do make a difference to the workplace of the future and the sort of Aotearoa/ New Zealand we want for our children and grandchildren is an important part of fostering interest and activity.

Union members are members of communities and we will be encouraging greater linkages of union and community campaigns. Between all 350,000 of us in the Council of Trade Unions are numerous connections with our families and whanau, hapu and iwi, sports teams, community groups, volunteer work, faith associations, and much more.

We will deepen these links with groups in New Zealand who share our goals of social justice, fairness and respect. There is a key role here for the CTU's representative and local structures.

We also will be developing an explicit political role for our union member leaders.

Many unions already have networks of union members who have put their hand up to be more involved politically. Be it the lobby network, the member activists group or the election campaign team, many unions already have networks within their unions of members wanting to play a role in increasing their union's political work.

W will be strengthening their role, and empowering more workers to get involved in political activities. Next year a key role will be ensuring all workers are on the electoral roll and facilitating discussions and actions around issues. We will lift participation in community activity, and educate union members on the issues that matter to them, not only through site meetings but in one-to-one conversations.

We are also mapping our combined capacity as a union movement, and a campaign audit of our existing campaigning systems and strengths is now underway, and is looking at our future focus in areas such as outbound calling facilities.

In summary, this is about doing our politics differently. It is about recognizing specific political roles for union members, and it's backing up our political strategy with union activism. This work programme is about building a social movement, and building our political voice. This means that our political work must be a core ongoing component of our work as unions not just in election years.

Today we have launched our political strategy, and set out the areas we will campaign on leading into the general election next year. Later this afternoon we will spend time in groups discussing what specific things we can all do in our workplaces and communities to build our strength politically. Because we are stronger, together.

Thank you.

Ends.

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