29 November 2004
The Ministry of Social Development signs a "Jobs Jolt" partnership with the Meat Industry
Association that will see up to 1,500 unemployed people trained in meat processing over the next year.
In a policy reversal, National Party leader Don Brash says he is committed to continuing the
Labour government's superannuation fund with the same contribution rate as at present. National now
also supports a universal four-weeks of annual leave for workers.
1 December 2004
International Volunteer Day, a day to celebrate and honour the work undertaken by the
volunteer workforce.
2 December 2004
The Equal Employment Opportunities Trust launches an online survey for people with a disability
to discover more about disabled people's employment experiences. The survey can be downloaded from
here.
3 December 2004
The Ministry of Social Development signs a "Jobs Jolt" partnership with Transfield Services, the
multi-national company that operates the NZ railway network. Initially the partnership will see 75
unemployed people trained in track maintenance in Auckland, the central North Island, Canterbury and
Greymouth. Minister Steve Maharey says the partnership is a very practical response to the biggest business
risk Transfield Services faces — its ageing workforce.
Major US retailers file suit to stop their government putting limits on Chinese garment imports.
The textile industry had asked their government to establish quotas to help protect the domestic
garment manufacturing industry.
4 December 2004
The US economy added 112,000 jobs in November, about half the number needed to keep pace
with its expanding labour force.
5 December 2004
One of the largest international meetings of trade unions leaders ever held begins in Japan. The
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
18th world congress has the banner of "globalising
solidarity — building a global union movement for the future".
6 December 2004
NZ starts trade liberalisation talks with China.
A business optimism survey of medium-sized businesses in 24 countries finds that NZ businesses
were the second most optimistic about profitability. Only in India was there a greater proportion of
business optimists.
7 December 2004
Prime Minister Helen Clark says her proudest moment as PM was seeing unemployment drop to
3.8% this year.
The number of people in Modern Apprenticeships has risen to more than 7,000.
Medical students protest in front of the Tertiary Education Commission offices appealing to it not
to allow universities to exceed the fee maximum rises for medical courses.
The household annual income eligibility cap for first-home borrowers from Kiwibank's home
loans increases from $55,000 to $65,000.
The BBC is to cut at least 2,900 staff — more than 10% of its workforce — over the next two to
three years.
8 December 2004
ACT Party deputy leader Muriel Newman says that nearly 66,000 people on an unemployment
benefit — at a time of labour shortages — is unacceptable. Newman says the government isn't doing
enough to encourage people to move to areas where there is work.
But the bulk of people who are currently unemployed are mismatched to the jobs on offer, according
to Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander. He observes there is a gap between the
skills and literacy levels employers demand and those that the unemployed have.
More prison beds may help ease the overcrowding in correctional facilities but will exacerbate
staff shortages, according to the Public Service Association. National organizer Alan Ware says extra
beds are of little use if they aren't backed up with extra staff.
The Australian government is to set up a Family Impact Assessment Commission that will
provide analysis and advice on how legislation and policy impacts on family wellbeing and stability.
Colgate-Palmolive will cut 4,400 jobs worldwide by closing one third of its 78 factories.
9 December 2004
Newspaper job ads in NZ are at records levels, up 14.4% on this time last year.
The Australian unemployment rate drops to 5.2%, a record monthly low since records began in 1978.
10 December 2004
The Wairarapa Times-Age printing press room, set up in 1938, is decommissioned with a loss of
35 jobs.
12 December 2004
About half of tertiary students who start degree courses don't complete their course and gain a
qualification.
13 December 2004
A Gallup survey finds that more than one third of Turkey's residents say they would try to find
work elsewhere in the EU if Turkey is admitted to the union.
The economy is growing almost twice as fast as Treasury predicted only six months ago.
Treasury has now revised its Budget night forecast of 2.8% annual GDP growth to show growth hitting
4.7% for the year to March 2005. Treasury also says the government surplus is much greater than it
previously predicted and now expects the surplus to rise from a predicted $5.7 billion to a new level of
$6.5 billion by June 2005. Part of this windfall can be explained by a rise in the number of people
working and therefore a larger PAYE tax take and private sector corporate annual profits increasing by 12%.
This summer up to 40,000 workers will be needed for the fruit and vegetable harvest and growers are
increasingly depending on Work and Income to find workers. But Fruit Growers Association chief
executive Peter Silcock says some growers are reluctant to take on people referred by Work and Income
because in the past they had had bad experiences with people being sent out to orchards with little
motivation or were not dependable enough to turn up.
The scheme that provides extra medical help for people on sickness and invalid's benefits so
they can be made fit to get back to work is to be extended to Wellington. PATHS (Providing Access
To Health Solutions) supports people on these benefits to get back to work by providing access to
medical care including intensive physiotherapy, pain clinics, fitness programmes and extra visits to health
professionals for managing chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.
Green Party MP Sue Kedgley says rock bottom wages and appalling work conditions are
forcing home-care workers to walk away from an industry already in crisis. Kedgley says the excessively
high turnover of home-care workers (88% in some areas) and the number of providers who are pulling
out of the market due to under funding in the sector, is putting the safety of elderly New Zealanders at risk.
There has been a surge in the number of foreign fishermen jumping ship in New Zealand over
the last two months. Sixty-two, mainly Indonesian and Vietnamese crew members, have deserted
their ships in the South Island. Marlborough Contractors Federation's Bob Lee has "an inkling" there is
a connection, even an organisation, behind these disappearing fishermen and illegal workers arriving
in Marlborough vineyards. Immigration operations manager Anita Reedy says the deserters are part of
the 2,100 fishermen working on foreign-owned boats chartered by New Zealand firms to work in
New Zealand waters. The number of desertions may actually be higher because the Immigration Service
only records those that companies report.
New Zealand's largest union is calling for the government to put labour issues at the forefront
of any free-trade talks with China in the wake of China's refusal to allow international unionists to visit
the country. The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) says the cancellation of visas
for senior world union leaders—including NZ Council of Trade Unions (CTU) president Ross
Wilson—raises serious concerns about labour prospects in China under a free-trade agreement. Wilson was
to attend an OECD seminar in Beijing with representatives of governments, union leaders and
foreign investors to discuss raising labour standards in China. But Chinese officials cancelled the meeting
and invalidated all the participants' visas, claiming it was "inappropriate and inconvenient" timing. As a
result, EPMU national secretary Andrew Little has written to the Prime Minister Helen Clark to repeat
the union's request that the CTU be represented on the New Zealand panel negotiating any free-trade
deal with China.