EPMU Media Release
June 7, 2007

Cash rate rise will hurt working New Zealanders – EPMU

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is disappointed by today’s reserve bank decision to raise the cash rate by another quarter of a percent.

The decision comes less than 24hours after another New Zealand manufacturer, Amcor Flexibles, has downsized operations due to the high dollar.

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little says the move will come as another blow to exporting manufacturers and the tens of thousands of Kiwis they employ.

“In the last few days we’ve seen Amcor and Skellerup cutting 140 jobs between them and one of the factors in both decisions was the high New Zealand dollar and the pressure it’s putting on both the price of exporting and the cost of competing with imported products.

“It’s about time we paid attention to the effect monetary policy is having on the Kiwi dollar and on New Zealand workers and recognised that it simply isn’t working for us. The select committee inquiry into monetarism is welcome but let’s hope it focuses on better ways to control inflation and that it’s not too little too late.”

More than 1200 EPMU members have faced redundancy due to the high dollar in the last 12 months alone.

ENDS

© Scoop Media