Transformation Needs Business, Unions and Govt

Tuesday, 7 November 2006, 4:18 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

CTU MEDIA RELEASE
07 November 2006

Economic Transformation Requires Full Commitment of Business, Unions and Government.

“The government’s economic transformation agenda is supported by unions, but it will require the full commitment of all parties to see real gains,” said CTU president Ross Wilson, commenting on the Minister of Economic Development’s announcement today.

“We accept that there is a lot of work to be done to transform New Zealand to the high wage, high skill, high value economy that everybody says they want.”

“These initiatives cannot be done by government alone - a tripartite commitment is needed with unions and business stepping up to the plate to work together with government to operationalise the transformation agenda.”

"It is crucial that workers are involved in discussions on how to lift productivity. For our part, unions have been developing programmes to address this and other areas of economic development, many in partnership with government and/or business.”

“But the benefits of improved productivity must be shared with workers - workplace productivity was 55% higher in 2005 than in 1988, but real wages for most workers have not risen by anything near that rate.”

ENDS

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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.

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