Christmas message from the National Secretary

We end 2007 with good reason to be positive about the future and ready to face the obvious challenges that lie ahead.

Our pay settlements this year have averaged over 3.5%. We’ve started getting agreements that lock in an extra week’s leave, even if at a later service threshold. And we’ve seen some employers start to take the skills shortage seriously by offering extra benefits.

This year saw the start of Kiwisaver and now, more than 300 000 New Zealand workers have kicked off their savings account. Next year, employer contributions for workers who are in Kiwisaver become compulsory. More recently, the minimum wage was again raised, this time to $12 an hour effective 1 April next year.

But there are challenges, too. We’ve had another year of significant job losses in the manufacturing sector. The government set up the Manufacturing Advisory Group this year and the EPMU is represented on it. We will need to work fast to make sure there is a positive, long term future for the sector. What we are missing so far is some visionary thinking to shift private investment into businesses of the future and to support this with the learning and skills of the future.

We have another major, long term challenge with climate change. We all understand the need to make changes to protect the future of our planet. And we also need to make sure we don’t do things here that rupture our economy just to see environmentally harmful activities go somewhere else. We need to dramatically invest in research and development of new technologies to make the environment safe.

Next year, we have the General Election. It will be a bitter battle. And we have to make sure that the gains of the last eight years are not lost. The forces of wealth and privilege and their handmaidens amongst the media proprietors are hysterical that limits have been put on their ability to spend huge amounts on paid advertising so they can’t dominate the election.  Typically, their only interest is to use their wealth for their own selfish purposes. What a pity that the massive energy they have put into preserving their privilege could not be put into those things that benefit all of us, like investment in future technology that will help protect the planet and ensure a sustainable future.

Yes, the challenges we face are big. Union values will help us face them. Values of collective action, of supporting one another, of sharing the burdens as well as the benefits, of striving for mutual respect and understanding.

These aren’t just the values of the union. They are the values of the season.

On behalf of the National Executive and staff of the EPMU, I wish all members and their families a happy, restful and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Andrew Little
National Secretary
EPMU