CTU Turns Its Back on Job Seekers - Again

Thursday 15 Aug 2002

By calling for a lifting of the minimum wage to $10 an hour and the abolition of youth rates, the Council of Trade Unions proves it couldn't care less about New Zealanders struggling to get ahead, ACT New Zealand MP Deborah Coddington said today.

"If the CTU successfully lobbies the Labour Government to change the rules - and history shows this is likely - thousands of New Zealanders will be forced into unemployment. Is this what the CTU calls `minimum standards of decency?'

"All New Zealanders, including tertiary students working part-time, kids working after school, and those trying to enter the workforce, should be free to choose their rates of pay. If the CTU and the Labour Government really want improvements in productivity and economic growth as they claim, the best thing they can do is to increase competition by reducing government intervention and regulation which suffocate innovation.

"When the boot of Government stamps on the aspirations of business, the first to suffer are the community's poorest. Employers can't hire more staff if flexibility and choice are replaced with increased taxes and compliance costs.

"One of the worst things any government can do to its people is to make them dependent on the state. This government should think very carefully about the real consequences of allowing the CTU to push its demands on New Zealanders," Ms Coddington said.

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