26 October 2004

Unions Back Bid to Attract Workers

Unions stand behind the Department of Labour in its efforts to urge employers to improve pay and working conditions to help combat labour shortages, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.

The department is reported as consulting key industries including construction, seafood, and horticulture, over what they can do to attract more workers.

“Unions have long been saying that the answer to skills and labour shortages must include improving pay and conditions, increasing investment in training and removing the barriers that keep women, older workers and the unemployed from participating fully in the workforce,” Carol Beaumont said

”We of course offer our services to help improve workplace conditions and thereby attract the staff these industries need,” she said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

Te Kauae Kaimahi

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.

CONTACT NEW ZEALAND COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS

• Website - union.org.nz/
• Phone - +64 4 385 1334
• YouTube
• Physical Address - Level 7, West Block, Education House, 178 Willis St, Wellington.

• Media Contact - huiaw@nzctu.org.nz
• Facebook
• Twitter - @FairnessNZ
• Postal Address - PO Box 6645, Marion Square, Wellington 6141.

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>