CTU will not engage in Governments sham consultation process on Terrorist Bill

Media release

CTU will not engage in Governments sham consultation process on Terrorist Bill

Today the CTU has sent a letter to Prime Minister John Key articulating serious concerns about both the content and the rushed process the Government has clearly signalled it intends to follow to progress the Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill into law and urging him to follow the proper process in considering this legislation.

“Rushing this legislation through is not appropriate or proper. We will not participate in a sham consultation process or take for ourselves the “luxury” of the chance to be heard at the select committee on the basis of some dubious selection criteria made by those to whom the Bill grants power while other legitimately interested citizens and groups are denied that opportunity,” CTU President, Helen Kelly said.

“There has been no evidence presented at all from the Prime Minister that such urgency is needed. Given the severe and unique nature of the powers being sought, quite the opposite is appropriate and a reasonable period of time should be made available for the public to have a say on this legislation,” Kelly said.

“The Bill provides authority for the SIS to trespass onto private property in order to conduct covert surveillance (such as installing video cameras and listening devices). These powers will compromise citizens’ right to avoid unreasonable search and seizure and to privacy. The Bill also extends the ability of the SIS to conduct warrantless surveillance for 48 hours in situations where it would be impracticable to get a warrant and it is believed that information may be lost. Warrantless surveillance as fundamentally irreconcilable with expectations of acceptable government behaviour in a free and open society. The only public accountability for the use of this power is that the SIS must note the number of times this power is used in their annual report,” Kelly said.

ENDS

View the letter here http://union.org.nz/news/2014/ctu-will-not-engage-governments-sham-consultation-process-terrorist-bill

For further comment, please contact:

Helen Kelly, President, CTU

021 776 741

Huia Welton | Communications & Campaigns Advisor | New Zealand Council of Trade Unions – Te Kauae Kaimahi

ph: +64 4 802 3817 | cell: +64 021 524 502 |

www.facebook.com/fairness.at.work | www.union.org.nz | Follow us on twitter: @fairnessNZ

Unions – we’re about Fairness

Mike Treen – “We can change this government.”

National Unite Director Mike Treen lays out the choices for workers in Aotearoa as we prepare for the election on Saturday. Share hard! https://unitenews.wordpress.com/about/

Laila versus Kelvin at the First & Unite Unions Stopwork Meeting

Laila Harre from Internet Mana talks about how to use our votes strategically, to elect the strongest fighters possible for workers’ rights.

Beat the rain on Saturday!

Kia ora So many people have already voted, over 350,000 in fact! Maybe you’re one of them?If you haven’t voted you still have time. The weather forecast for Saturday is rain and wind over most of the country. If you think the weather will impact on your ability to vote, or the ability of someone you know – then vote before Saturday! Saturday is the last day to vote. The voting places close at 7pm on the dot! You can find a list of all the places here http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/information-voters-who-when-and-where It’s really important that people know that on Saturday it’s not possible to enrol you can only vote. Do you know anyone under between the ages of 18 – 30? Please ask them about when they’re planning to vote. I’m looking forward to voting on Friday, Suffrage Day, with my son and other members of my family. Like you, I’m committed to having my say about who our next government is. Let’s get out and vote! Helen Kelly, CTU President http://www.getoutandvote.org.nz/ Authorised by: Helen Kelly, NZCTU, Level 7, 178 Willis St, Wellington

Internet Mana policies

What do we stand for?

• Manaakitanga: Sharing our wealth

  Internet MANA will build a more inclusive society that everyone can contribute to and thrive in. The core of this involves feeding the kids and ensuring that free tertiary education is available to everyone. We will also tackle the housing crisis head on with 30,000 new state rental homes to reduce rents and house prices for everyone. We will ensure everyone pays a fair share of tax with new taxes on some financial transactions and wealth. We will expand access to democracy with a Government more responsive to people’s needs than corporate interests.

• Ngā Moemoeā: A future of hope

  Internet MANA will invest in jobs because the right to work on a living wage is at the heart of restoring dignity and self-respect to everyone. We will boost innovation and high-tech jobs through investment in research and development and support for startups. New opportunities in the untappeddigital economy will be created and that requires access to cheaper, universal Internet for everyone, ensuring that no one is left behind in our digital future. We will take responsibility for the wellbeing of our future generations by realising the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2025.

• Rangatiratanga : A free and independent nation

  Internet MANA will uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the basis for a proud nation which offers Māori language in schools to advance our unique national identity. We will withdraw from the Five Eyes alliance, stop mass surveillance by the GCSB, stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), and initiate a Bill of Digital Rights to safeguard our human rights in a digital era.

• Right to work

  Internet MANA will tackle persistent high rates of unemployment by reinvesting back into society and filling the many gaps of past policy failures to take us into the future. We will set a national goal of 0% unemployment for under 25s and eliminate long-term unemployment across the whole labour market. Internet MANA will use the know-how and support innovation and self-start entrepreneurship from within our own communities to solve their own unemployment & social problems as well as invest $1.03 billion each year to fund approximately 100,000 temporary jobs where the labour market is not able to create jobs.

• Living wage

  It’s not good enough to just have a job – the hours of work and pay per hour are equally important for a family to have a decent standard of living. Internet MANA would work to stabilise hours of work and increase the minimum wage from the $14.25 an hour at present to the living wage, currently $18.80. We would peg the minimum wage at two-thirds of the average wage to prevent it dropping dangerously in the future as it has done in recent decades.

Labour’s work and wages policy

Labour is committed to good jobs, decent work conditions and fair wages driven by a high-performing economy. To get there, Labour is also committed to workers having a voice in their workplaces and industries through collective bargaining and their own, independent trade unions.

We believe that workers need a strong platform of basic standards, including, a decent minimum wage, the right to negotiate collectively, health and safety protections, a Living Wage, as well as adequate holidays, rest breaks, and redundancy provisions.

We believe that strong labour protections are the hallmark of a civilised society, which recognises that good employment standards are a right, and that those same standards underpin a high-performing economy. Labour believes that most employers also share a commitment to strong labour protections and can face unfair competitive pressure from those that don’t.

Labour will:

• Increase the minimum wage by $2 an hour in our first year, to $15 an hour in our first hundred days in government, and increased again to $16.25 an hour in early 2015,
• Set a target of returning the minimum wage to two-thirds of the average wage by the end of our second term, as economic conditions allow,
• Ensure that all core public service workers are paid at least the Living Wage, and extend this as fiscal conditions permit,
• Make the Crown a leader in good employment practices and ensure that government bodies only contract with businesses that are good employers,
• Hold a Commission of Inquiry into wages and collective bargaining, and implement its findings to ensure workers get a fair deal,
• Review health and safety laws and ensure Worksafe New Zealand is adequately resourced.
• Abolish Secondary Tax.Click here for our full Work and Wages policy

If you are working on election day- How to vote.

If you are working on election day

You are legally entitled to have time away from work to go and vote on election day.

Section 162 of the Electoral Act 1993 sets out the responsibilities of employers in respect of allowing any employees working on election day time off to vote.

General Employees

Any employee who has not had a reasonable opportunity to vote on election day before starting work, must be allowed to leave her or his work for the purpose of voting no later than 3pm for the remainder of the day. An employer cannot make deductions from the employee’s remuneration for the time taken off.

http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/when-you-cant-get-there-day

Minimum wage worker 28% of income paid in tax – John Key 2.8%Taxes

Green Party appeal to workers

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Kia ora Party vote Green for a cleaner, fairer, smarter New Zealand Workers will get a better, fairer deal under the Green Party. Our workers’ plan will restore the Kiwi dream built on the idea that if you work hard and do your fair share, your income will rise consistently. We will ensure you have better protections and make sure you will have what you need for a good life. Increasing the minimum wage to $18 by 2017 We will increase the minimum wage to $15 this year after the election, and then increase it again to $16 in April next year. We will then increase the minimum wage in $1 increments each year we are in Government, so that by 2017 the minimum wage will be $18.

Labour: Ever heard of tactical voting?

 

By Mike Treen, Unite Union National Director

Reprinted from The Daily Blog

The vote is now so close that a refusal by Labour to consider tactical voting is more than stupid – it could be suicidal.

Current polling indicates that the Maori Party candidates have a modest lead in two electorates – Waiariki and Te Tai Hauāuru. I think that the polls exaggerate that lead but let us accept they are accurate for now.

The party is second place is Mana in Waiariki and Labour in Te Tai Hauāuru. The combined Mana and Labour electorate vote would be enough to defeat the Maori Party candidates and prevent them bringing anyone in from the list if that were possible.

That would eliminate 2 or three potential National Party allies in the next parliament. That could be enough to prevent the National Party being able to form a majority government. It is very unlikely that Act or United Future can win more than the seats they have been gifted by National.