T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 6 8
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a subscriber-based letter
published in New Zealand 3 November 1997
edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust
P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand
phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648
Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I N T H I S I S S U E
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FEEDBACK ON EMPLOYMENT POLICIES
UK JOBS GOAL
FRANCE 35-HR WEEK
COMMISSIONERS NOW NEXT YEAR
TAX AND JOBS
UNPAID WORK
BEHAVIOUR-BASED JOB INTERVIEWING
UPCOMING MEETINGS
T H E J O B S L E T T E R
an essential information and media watch
on jobs, employment, unemployment, the future of work,
and related economic and education issues.
Kia taea ai te tangata te whiwhi mahi
ahakoa ki whea, ahakoa ko wai.
Our objective is that every New Zealander will have the
opportunity to be in paid work.
The Jobs Research Trust -- a not-for-profit Charitable Trust
constituted in 1994 to develop and distribute information that
will help our communities create more jobs and reduce
unemployment and poverty in New Zealand.
D I A R Y - THE STATE OF JOBS IN NEW ZEALAND
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1 October 1997
The government is to introduce tough new policies designed to
save it millions of dollars in ACC payments. The policies will
see long-term compensation claimants re-assessed for their
capacity to work. Up to 20,000 injured workers who have completed
a rehabilitation programme face the test -- including
paraplegics, amputees and others with serious disabilities. Those
who cannot find jobs within three months will be paid the
substantially lower Social Welfare benefits, rather than ACC
payments.
The World Bank president, James Wolfensohn, has challenged
his organisation to put the fight against global inequality at
the top of the development agenda, and has warned prosperous
nations that they ignore the gap between rich and poor at their
peril. Wolfensohn: "The time has come to get back to the dream:
the dream of inclusive development ..."
2 October 1997
In Lower Hutt, police are calling on Taskforce Green and
Community Taskforce workers to patrol railway stations and lines
between Wellington and Upper Hutt.
The British newspaper Guardian reports that agents from MI5 are
targeting large-scale benefit cheats under a joint initiative
between the Security Service and the Social Security Ministry.
The Ministry is targeting the involvement of organised crime in
such fraud, and believes it could save £2.8 billion from its
benefit bill.
3 October 1997
An expert in ACC policy, Grant Duncan of Massey University, says
that ACC claimants forced back onto the job market by the tough
new 'back-to-work" policies are likely to face discrimination
from employers. Duncan: "It is quite unrealistic to assume that
the job market presents a level playing field for workers with a
long- term past on ACC and possibly an ongoing disability ..."
4 October 1997
The board chairmen of the Crown Health Enterprises have been told
in a letter from government that they must hold any pay increases
unless they get rid of staff or cut wage bills elsewhere. The
letter advises the chairmen to "stand firm" against any strikes
that may protest against this medical wage freeze.
In Britain, leading supermarket chains are drawing up a code of
practice for 'fair trading' to prevent their participation in
exploiting the world's poorest countries. The fair trading
standards will regulate how overseas workers are treated, and the
impact on the environment of the goods produced.
5 October 1997
The United States Congress has passed its first legislation to
ban imported goods made by forced child labour -- a measure that
will have a huge impact on manufacturing companies in the Third
World and on US domestic consumption.
6 October 1997
The NZ Dollar has tumbled in value and NZ's external deficit has
widened to $6 billion in the year to June, the worst figures
since 1986.
A third of hospital patients wanting elective surgery are likely
to be rejected under a controversial new booking system to come
into effect next June.
7 October 1997
Sacked Health Associate Minister Neil Kirton has released
documents which show that five North Island Crown Health
Enterprises are to cut back on staff and services.
The number of job advertisements has fallen by 6.6% in the last
year, according to the ANZ bank which surveys the main
newspapers.
In Melbourne, there is public outrage after revelations that the
Victorian police intelligence unit had infiltrated community
groups and kept dossiers on many people. The groups being spied
on included the Council for Civil Liberties, Greenpeace, the
Wilderness Society, the Womens Information and Self Help Group
and the Koorie Information Centre.
The workforce at the Anzac frigate building site in Whangarei
should be back to full strength by Christmas. The site had gone
through a change of ownership, and had shut down early last
month, laying off 110 workers.
The German economy continues to struggle with the highest
unemployment levels since the Second World War.
8 October 1997
Fletcher Challenge plans to make redundant a third of its 350
workers at the Waipa timber mill near Rotorua -- only a couple of
weeks after failing to negotiate a new employment contract with
them.
Finance Minister Bill Birch is advocating a cut in the top tax
rate from 33c to 25c in the dollar. PM Jim Bolger however says he
is ruling out such a measure "in the near future".
9 October 1997
Labour leader Helen Clark says that Cabinet is still considering
the punitive options within the Treasury-inspired Well Baby, Well
Child proposal -- despite earlier denials from Social Welfare
Minister Roger Sowry. The proposal could see money taken away
from beneficiaries who are deemed to be failing as parents.
Labour understands that officials have been working on the sorts
of sanctions that could be applied to so-called bad parents since
at least May this year.
10 October 1997
The police have been told they have to cut 540 jobs over the next
three years. But the 180 job cuts pencilled in for this year do
not have to go until next year, because the computer system to
replace them is not yet up and running.
Labour says that NZ has fewer police per head of population than
in other countries. NZ has one officer for every 564 people --
Great Britain has 1:438, USA 1:394, Canada 1:523, and Australia
1:453.
At a French government-sponsored jobs conference, Prime
Minister Jospin announces a plan to reduce the work week to 35
hours in an effort to create jobs and counter record post-war
unemployment.
11 October 1997
Tenth anniversary of the 1987 share market crash. Our share
market has yet to regain its pre-crash levels.
12 October 1997
An international survey has found that nearly three-quarters of
NZ workers feel their jobs are secure. The survey, by
International Survey Research Ltd, placed NZ fifth-equal with
Brazil and Norway out of a list of 20 countries.
13 October 1997
Opinion polls show that if an election was held last week,
Labour could govern on its own without the help of a minor party.
Some police and probation officers are suing their bosses for
stress-related illnesses allegedly brought on by their jobs.
14 October 1997
Truck assembly at Mitsubishi's Todd park plant at Porirua will
cease early next year, with the loss of 30 jobs.
Government administrators say that the legal aid system is
under strain to the point of collapse, and massive reforms are
needed.
Labour releases figures which show that the number of beds
available in public hospitals has fallen by 11% in the last year.
Worst hit are beds in the lower North Island plummeting by nearly
a third, and those in the central North Island by 21%.
16 October 1997
Registered unemployment has fallen by 665 people during
September to 169,959.
Security guards have begun escorting inmates between prisons and
the courts in a cost-cutting move which rank and file police warn
could prove dangerous.
20 October 1997
Trans Power is to cut its workforce by 20%, or 85 people.
Economic forecaster Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (DMG) predicts that
NZ unemployment will peak at 7.7% next year before beginning to
decline. Reasons: increasing productivity by firms, combined with
modest GDP growth and a rise in labour force participation. DMG
predicts that only 12,000 new jobs will be created in the next
year.
22 October 1997
The IRD annual report reveals that more than 14,000 taxpayers
escaped an audit by the IRD in the year to June 97, because of a
shortage of staff.
Consumer confidence is at its lowest level for nearly five years,
according to the latest Westpac Trust/McDermott Miller survey.
23 October 1997
The public service workforce has continued to shrink. There are
now 31,662 full-time equivalent positions in the public service
(1.9% of the employed workforce). This compares to 55,000 full
time positions in December 1990.
24 October 1997
The NZ sharemarket is at a ten-year high, up 13.5% in the last
year.
The Hong Kong sharemarket begins to slide, after interest rates
rise in Asia following months of of currency speculation.
L'Echo reports that Belgium may be the next country to reduce the
work week to 35 hours, following similar movements in France and
Italy.
The New York Times reports on a non-binding vote as part of a
movement to unionize workfare participants in New York City. The
mayor is refusing to negotiate with the organization heading the
drive.
25 October 1997
Hong Kong shares fall 10.4%. Wall St markets begin to wobble.
The Fire Service will shed 103 management and office staff to
correct what it describes as "pointless" overstaffing.
26 October 1997
Share prices fall sharply down in Europe and the United States.
NZ shares fall 5.3%, the largest one-day percentage fall in four
years and the largest points fall since the 1987 crash.
The Alliance spokesperson on ACC, Laila Harre, says that up to
7000 recipients of ACC -- one fifth of all claimants -- might
have their compensation ended under the new regulations which
take effect on November 5.
27 October 1997
Gold prices in New York have fallen to a 12-year low after the
Swiss Reserve Bank sells half its stockpile.
A Labour Department survey shows that workers have a low
awareness of parental leave entitlements. The survey shows that
45% of mothers and 83% of fathers do not apply for parental leave
before the three months deadline required under the Parental
Leave Act.
The demand for workplace drug testing of potential and existing
employees is mushrooming, according to the Environmental Science
and Research Institute.
About 200,000 supporters of Italy's hard-line communists,
whose party votes hold the coalition government in place, march
through Rome in support of demands for a 35-hr week. The Italian
government has made a commitment to cut working hours, but
employers organisations have come out in opposition.
28 October 1997
Labour Day.
Hong Kong shares fall 5.8%, as fears over the value of the local
property market grow. The Dow Jones plunges overnight by 550
points as investors jump on the selling bandwagon.
United Nations and international government officials gather in
Oslo to begin a four-day conference on child labour. According to
ILO figures, 250m children between the ages 5-14 years are
working, with about half in full-time employment.
Astlet Leather is to stop making upholstery and show leather at
its New Lynn factory, with the loss of 70 jobs.
29 October 1997
NZ shares fall another 12.5% in value.
Treasurer Winston Peters and Social Welfare Minister Roger
Sowry are given a rowdy reception at a Grey Power rally in
Wellington.
Nearly 2,500 people are queuing up to rent only 205 state houses
available in greater Wellington.
Employment Minister Peter McCardle reports that 19
beneficiaries have had benefits cut after failing the work-test
requirements for community Taskforce. There are 3,711
beneficiaries currently on Community Taskforce projects.
The NZ Council of Christian Social Services has called for a
boycott of the controversial work-for-the-dole scheme. Council
president Campbell Roberts says the scheme does not meet minimum
standards which reflect the "basic dignity and worth of all
people". The Council wants to ensure that involvement in the
schemes was voluntary, that the pay given is adequate and
recognises the extra costs of making the transition to work, and
that an assurance be given that other employees are not
displaced.
31 October 1997
The owners of the Levenes chain retail stores have called in the
receivers after plunging into debt. Over 600 staff jobs face an
uncertain future.
I T E M S -- ESSENTIAL Information on an ESSENTIAL issue
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BRITISH GOAL : JOBS FOR ALL
* The British Labour Party has celebrated its return to power
after 19 years in opposition by setting the ambitious goal of
providing a job for everyone in the new millenium. The Finance
Chancellor Gordon Brown made the dramatic pledge at the opening
day of the Labour Party's annual conference last month. He says
the party's revival of its traditional pledge to full employment
will be achieved by promoting long term economic stability and
reshaping the tax and welfare benefits system to encourage the
unemployed and the low-paid.
Brown: "It starts not with pump-priming, but prudence. Not
dashes for growth but discipline. Not free-for-all but
responsibility. Not rejection of change but a more flexible
welfare state and labour market..."
FRENCH TO PROMOTE 35-HR WEEK
* The French government has made an historic decision
introducing the 35-hour week without loss of pay. At a French
government-sponsored jobs conference on October 10, Prime
Minister Jospin announced a plan to reduce the work week to 35-
hours in an effort to create jobs and counter record post-war
unemployment.
The plan for the 35-hour week is due to become legally
obligatory in all workplaces of more than 10 employees on 1st
