Government needs to stay on target
The Council of Trade Unions is cautioning the new government to take Treasury advice on tax reform, tariff removals and
employment law with a healthy grain of salt.
“The government has got the fundamentals right,” said Ross Wilson, CTU President. “In the last six years we have seen
the lowest unemployment in the OECD, 20% economic growth, high levels of company profitability, higher investment in
industry training and tax relief for low income families.
Treasury have also called for increased labour market productivity and cautioned against further regulation of the
labour market.
“However as we have learned from the 1990s, productivity in workplaces doesn’t come with a deregulated labour market.
The CTU wants to see the Government maintain the momentum on improvements in employment law,” said Ross Wilson.
“The productivity debate needs to centre around working smarter, not harder, and the CTU is actively involved in a
number of strategies in this area,” said Ross Wilson.