Rich get Richer and Workers get Crumbs under Labour

The question of ‘who’s really winning in a period of so-called economic growth?’ is but one question to be posed at the Wellington Alliance People’s Forum this Sunday 3rd April, 2pm at the Crossways Community Centre (cnr Elizabeth and Brougham Streets) in Mt Victoria, Wellington.

Our second forum for 2005 follows broad left action being organised outside Labour’s Election Year Congress at the Wellington Town Hall on Saturday 2nd April.

“Record profits have clearly come at the expense of workers,” said Alliance President, Jill Ovens. “Low hourly rates and the loss of overtime rates means low-paid workers are worse off in real terms than they were 15 years ago. Workers are also working long hours simply to make ends meet.”

Ms Ovens, a union organiser working with low paid workers in Auckland, will be speaking at the forum on the failure of the so-called economic boom to deliver anything for low-paid workers.

“The economy grew 4 percent last year, but the average worker only saw a meagre 2.7 percent rise in pay,” said Ms Ovens.

“The Labour Government is failing workers and one example is the current leadership’s refusal to publicly support the fair shares campaign. This is a clear indication that Labour’s interests are increasingly lying with employers and business.”

“At $9.50, the current minimum wage is far too low. Therefore this election the Alliance will push for a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the abolition of discriminatory youth rates, fight for a 35 hour working week with no loss of pay, call to strengthen collective bargaining to move from multi-employer and multi-union collective agreements to national pay and conditions across industries and occupations, support workers Right to Strike (to enforce their Collective Agreement, to oppose lay-offs and to support other workers for political reasons), and promote workplace democracy whereby all workers have a say in the way that work is organised in their place of work.”

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