MEDIA RELEASE
05 July 2005
OECD Report: National Party Policies Would Wreck Productivity Work
The National Party's industrial relations policy would wreck the tripartite productivity work which the OECD Report
signals is the key to future economic growth, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.
The OECD Report on the New Zealand economy today identified lifting productivity as the key challenge for the future.
"Workplace productivity is not going to be increased by a return to an Employment Contracts Act focus on reducing labour
and compliance costs and the inevitable conflict and bitterness which will accompany its re-introduction," Ross Wilson
said.
"Investment is required in skill development and technology to ensure that productivity is improved."
There had been a dramatic shift over the past few years towards greater co-operation between business and unions on
economic, skill development, and productivity initiatives.
"That has been the successful formula in other countries which have transformed their economies, and it will be a major
set-back if the General Election 2005 takes us back to the industrial relations strategies of the 1990s.
"The good faith framework of the Employment Relations Act, and the strong minimum code protections, are key to the
development of the high-skill workforce New Zealand needs," Ross Wilson said.
ENDS