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2008 Budget: Skills funding
CTU MEDIA RELEASE
22 May 2008
2008 Budget: Skills funding
“Supporting workers to improve their skills in language, literacy and numeracy is critical to building the high wage, high skill economy that everyone wants, and the budget’s significant allocation of $168 million over four years to roll out the Skills Strategy is a big vote of confidence for workplace learning,” CTU secretary Carol Beaumont said today.
“8 out of 10 workers of the workforce of 2020 are at work today and so a good place to invest in people is directly at the workplace. Improving access to skills development will help transform our economy and lift New Zealand’s productivity.”
Carol Beaumont said that as consensus grows around the call for a high skill approach, there also has to be acknowledgement of the need for higher wages.
“The benefits of improved productivity must be shared with workers, and the move to a high skill economy needs to be accompanied with better wages for workers.”
"The wider social benefits of increased skills investment will be felt in many ways including workers having more access to employment opportunities, supporting their children's learning and being able to take part in a wider range of community activities."
"We can't build a high wage, high skill economy if lots of people can't get another chance to boost their basic skills. The investment in skills announced today is strongly supported by unions.”
ENDS
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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