CTU Media Release

9 October 2013

CTU report finds over 635,000 New Zealand workers in insecure work

The CTU releases its report into insecure work, Under Pressure: Insecure Work in New Zealand at its Biennial Conference – Fairness at Work, held today in Wellington. CTU President, Helen Kelly says “whether we call it casualisation, precarious work, temporary, or non-standard work – it means that workers have worse conditions, less security, less say and are more vulnerable. That may suit the boss – but it is unfair and does not work for workers.”

“Our report shows that at least 30% of New Zealand’s workers – over 635,000 people including 192,000 temporary workers – are in insecure work. We believe it may well cover 50% of the workforce because we know that 95,000 workers have no usual work time, 61,000 workers have no written employment agreement, 573,000 workers earn less than the Living Wage and almost a quarter of a million Kiwi workers say they have experienced discrimination, harassment or bullying at work. Some of these will add to the 30% level.”

Helen Kelly says “insecure work for most people means their lives are dominated by work: waiting for it, looking for it, worrying when they don’t have it. They often don’t have paid holidays – which can mean no holidays at all. They lose out on family time. They often don’t have sick leave. They are vulnerable if they try to assert their rights or raise any concerns. They are exposed to dangerous working conditions and have to accept low wages. They can’t make commitments – to family time, to sports teams, to community or church activities, to mortgages, or even to increasing their skills, this is not the kind of working life most kiwi’s want.”

“The stories from workers in our report show that when there are no guaranteed hours or protections of secure work, workers are often fearful that they may lose hours or even lose their job if they stand up for their rights. This kind of work often leaves workers feeling they are not wanted, not valued, not really needed. It is damaging for them, for their families and for our communities.”

Helen Kelly says we need to change to make working life decent and secure for more Kiwi workers.

“We need to have more legal protections to prevent people being trapped in insecure work. We need to make sure our income support mechanisms are working for insecure workers and that employers agree to a Living Wage with more security of hours. We need the Government to step up around procurement so that big public projects engage workers in a way that they have job and income security and, we need to strengthen union campaigns and bargaining to support secure work.”

ENDS

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