

Currently released so far... 12553 / 251,287
Browse latest releases
2010/12/01
2010/12/02
2010/12/03
2010/12/04
2010/12/05
2010/12/06
2010/12/07
2010/12/08
2010/12/09
2010/12/10
2010/12/11
2010/12/12
2010/12/13
2010/12/14
2010/12/15
2010/12/16
2010/12/17
2010/12/18
2010/12/19
2010/12/20
2010/12/21
2010/12/22
2010/12/23
2010/12/24
2010/12/25
2010/12/26
2010/12/27
2010/12/28
2010/12/29
2010/12/30
2011/01/01
2011/01/02
2011/01/04
2011/01/05
2011/01/07
2011/01/09
2011/01/10
2011/01/11
2011/01/12
2011/01/13
2011/01/14
2011/01/15
2011/01/16
2011/01/17
2011/01/18
2011/01/19
2011/01/20
2011/01/21
2011/01/22
2011/01/23
2011/01/24
2011/01/25
2011/01/26
2011/01/27
2011/01/28
2011/01/29
2011/01/30
2011/01/31
2011/02/01
2011/02/02
2011/02/03
2011/02/04
2011/02/05
2011/02/06
2011/02/07
2011/02/08
2011/02/09
2011/02/10
2011/02/11
2011/02/12
2011/02/13
2011/02/14
2011/02/15
2011/02/16
2011/02/17
2011/02/18
2011/02/19
2011/02/20
2011/02/21
2011/02/22
2011/02/23
2011/02/24
2011/02/25
2011/02/26
2011/02/27
2011/02/28
2011/03/01
2011/03/02
2011/03/03
2011/03/04
2011/03/05
2011/03/06
2011/03/07
2011/03/08
2011/03/09
2011/03/10
2011/03/11
2011/03/13
2011/03/14
2011/03/15
2011/03/16
2011/03/17
2011/03/18
2011/03/19
2011/03/20
2011/03/21
2011/03/22
2011/03/23
2011/03/24
2011/03/25
2011/03/26
2011/03/27
2011/03/28
2011/03/29
2011/03/30
2011/03/31
2011/04/01
2011/04/02
2011/04/03
2011/04/04
2011/04/05
2011/04/06
2011/04/07
2011/04/08
2011/04/09
2011/04/10
2011/04/11
2011/04/12
2011/04/13
2011/04/14
2011/04/15
2011/04/16
2011/04/17
2011/04/18
2011/04/19
2011/04/20
2011/04/21
2011/04/22
2011/04/23
2011/04/24
2011/04/25
2011/04/26
2011/04/27
2011/04/28
2011/04/29
2011/04/30
2011/05/01
2011/05/02
2011/05/03
2011/05/04
2011/05/05
2011/05/06
2011/05/07
2011/05/08
2011/05/09
2011/05/10
2011/05/11
2011/05/12
Browse by creation date
Browse by origin
Embassy Athens
Embassy Asuncion
Embassy Astana
Embassy Asmara
Embassy Ashgabat
Embassy Apia
Embassy Ankara
Embassy Amman
Embassy Algiers
Embassy Addis Ababa
Embassy Accra
Embassy Abuja
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Embassy Abidjan
Consulate Auckland
Consulate Amsterdam
Consulate Adana
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura
Embassy Buenos Aires
Embassy Budapest
Embassy Bucharest
Embassy Brussels
Embassy Bridgetown
Embassy Bratislava
Embassy Brasilia
Embassy Bogota
Embassy Bishkek
Embassy Bern
Embassy Berlin
Embassy Belmopan
Embassy Belgrade
Embassy Beirut
Embassy Beijing
Embassy Banjul
Embassy Bangkok
Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan
Embassy Bamako
Embassy Baku
Embassy Baghdad
Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen
Embassy Conakry
Embassy Colombo
Embassy Chisinau
Embassy Caracas
Embassy Canberra
Embassy Cairo
Consulate Curacao
Consulate Ciudad Juarez
Consulate Chennai
Consulate Casablanca
Consulate Cape Town
Consulate Calgary
Embassy Dushanbe
Embassy Dublin
Embassy Doha
Embassy Djibouti
Embassy Dili
Embassy Dhaka
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Embassy Damascus
Embassy Dakar
Consulate Dubai
Embassy Helsinki
Embassy Harare
Embassy Hanoi
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Consulate Hermosillo
Consulate Hamilton
Consulate Hamburg
Consulate Halifax
Embassy Kyiv
Embassy Kuwait
Embassy Kuala Lumpur
Embassy Kinshasa
Embassy Kingston
Embassy Kigali
Embassy Khartoum
Embassy Kathmandu
Embassy Kampala
Embassy Kabul
Consulate Kolkata
Embassy Luxembourg
Embassy Luanda
Embassy London
Embassy Ljubljana
Embassy Lisbon
Embassy Lima
Embassy Lilongwe
Embassy La Paz
Consulate Lahore
Consulate Lagos
Mission USOSCE
Mission USNATO
Mission UNESCO
Embassy Muscat
Embassy Moscow
Embassy Montevideo
Embassy Monrovia
Embassy Minsk
Embassy Mexico
Embassy Mbabane
Embassy Maputo
Embassy Manila
Embassy Manama
Embassy Managua
Embassy Malabo
Embassy Madrid
Consulate Munich
Consulate Mumbai
Consulate Montreal
Consulate Monterrey
Consulate Milan
Consulate Melbourne
Embassy Nicosia
Embassy Niamey
Embassy New Delhi
Embassy Ndjamena
Embassy Nassau
Embassy Nairobi
Consulate Naples
Consulate Naha
Embassy Pristina
Embassy Pretoria
Embassy Prague
Embassy Port Of Spain
Embassy Port Louis
Embassy Port Au Prince
Embassy Phnom Penh
Embassy Paris
Embassy Paramaribo
Embassy Panama
Consulate Peshawar
REO Basrah
Embassy Rome
Embassy Riyadh
Embassy Riga
Embassy Reykjavik
Embassy Rangoon
Embassy Rabat
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Consulate Recife
Secretary of State
Embassy Suva
Embassy Stockholm
Embassy Sofia
Embassy Skopje
Embassy Singapore
Embassy Seoul
Embassy Sarajevo
Embassy Santo Domingo
Embassy Santiago
Embassy Sanaa
Embassy San Salvador
Embassy San Jose
Consulate Strasbourg
Consulate St Petersburg
Consulate Shenyang
Consulate Shanghai
Consulate Sapporo
Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis
Embassy Tripoli
Embassy Tokyo
Embassy The Hague
Embassy Tel Aviv
Embassy Tehran
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Embassy Tbilisi
Embassy Tashkent
Embassy Tallinn
Consulate Toronto
Consulate Tijuana
USUN New York
USEU Brussels
US Office Almaty
US Mission Geneva
US Interests Section Havana
US Delegation, Secretary
UNVIE
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius
Embassy Vienna
Embassy Vatican
Embassy Valletta
Consulate Vladivostok
Consulate Vancouver
Browse by tag
APECO
ASEC
AMGT
AFIN
APER
ACABQ
AORC
AEMR
AF
AE
AR
AGMT
AU
AY
ABLD
AS
AG
AJ
APCS
AX
AM
AMEX
ATRN
ADM
AMED
AFGHANISTAN
AZ
AL
ASUP
AND
ARM
ASEAN
AFFAIRS
AQ
ATFN
AMBASSADOR
AODE
APEC
ACBAQ
AFSI
AFSN
AO
ABUD
AC
ADPM
ADCO
ASIG
ARF
AUC
ASEX
AGAO
AA
AER
AVERY
AGRICULTURE
AIT
AADP
ASCH
AORL
AROC
ACOA
ANET
AID
AMCHAMS
AINF
AMG
AFU
AN
ALOW
ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG
ACS
ADANA
AECL
ACAO
AORG
AGR
BEXP
BR
BM
BG
BL
BA
BTIO
BO
BP
BC
BILAT
BK
BU
BD
BRUSSELS
BB
BF
BBSR
BIDEN
BX
BE
BH
BT
BY
BMGT
BWC
BTIU
BN
CA
CASC
CFED
CO
CH
CS
CU
CE
CI
CM
CMGT
CJAN
COM
CG
CIS
CVIS
CR
CKGR
CHR
CVR
COUNTER
CIA
CLINTON
CY
CPAS
CD
CBW
COUNTERTERRORISM
CITEL
CDG
CW
CODEL
COUNTRY
CLEARANCE
COE
CN
CARICOM
CB
CONDOLEEZZA
CWC
CACS
CSW
CIDA
CIC
CITT
CONS
CL
CACM
CDB
CDC
CAN
CF
CJUS
CTM
CBSA
CARSON
CT
CLMT
CBC
CEUDA
CV
COPUOS
CTR
CROS
CAPC
CAC
CNARC
CICTE
CBE
ECON
ETRD
EIND
ENRG
EC
ELAB
EAGR
EAID
EFIS
EFIN
EINV
EUN
EG
EPET
EAIR
EU
ELTN
EWWT
ECIN
ERD
EI
ETTC
EUR
EN
EZ
ETC
ENVI
EMIN
ET
ENVR
ER
ECPS
EINT
EAP
ES
ENIV
ECONOMY
EXTERNAL
EINN
EFTA
ECONOMIC
EPA
EXBS
ECA
ELN
ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS
ENGR
ECUN
ENGY
ECONOMICS
ELECTIONS
EIAR
EINDETRD
EREL
EUC
ECONEFIN
EURN
EDU
ETRDEINVTINTCS
ECIP
ENERG
EFIM
EAIDS
EK
ETRDECONWTOCS
EINVETC
ECONCS
EUNCH
ESA
ECINECONCS
EUREM
ESENV
EFINECONCS
ETRC
ENNP
EAIG
EXIM
EEPET
EINVECONSENVCSJA
EUMEM
ETRA
ERNG
ETRO
ETRN
EINVEFIN
ICTY
IN
IS
IR
IC
IZ
IA
INTERPOL
IAEA
IT
IMO
IO
IV
ID
IRAQI
IEA
INRB
IL
IWC
ITU
ICAO
ISRAELI
ICRC
IIP
IMF
IBRD
ISLAMISTS
ITALY
ITALIAN
ILO
IPR
IQ
IRS
IAHRC
IZPREL
IRAJ
IDP
ILC
ITF
ICJ
IF
ITPHUM
INMARSAT
ISRAEL
IACI
IBET
ITRA
INR
IRC
IDA
ICTR
IGAD
INRA
INRO
IEFIN
INTELSAT
INTERNAL
INDO
ITPGOV
KWMN
KSCA
KDEM
KTFN
KIPR
KCRM
KPAL
KE
KPAO
KPKO
KS
KN
KISL
KFRD
KJUS
KIRF
KFLO
KG
KTIP
KTER
KRCM
KTIA
KGHG
KIRC
KU
KPRP
KMCA
KMPI
KSEO
KNNP
KZ
KNEI
KCOR
KOMC
KCFC
KSTC
KMDR
KFLU
KSAF
KSEP
KSAC
KR
KGIC
KSUM
KWBG
KCIP
KDRG
KOLY
KAWC
KCHG
KHDP
KRVC
KBIO
KAWK
KGCC
KHLS
KBCT
KPLS
KREL
KCFE
KMFO
KV
KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KFTFN
KVPR
KTDB
KSPR
KIDE
KVRP
KTEX
KBTR
KTRD
KICC
KCOM
KO
KLIG
KDEMAF
KMRS
KRAD
KOCI
KSTH
KUNR
KNSD
KGIT
KFSC
KHIV
KPAI
KICA
KACT
KHUM
KREC
KSEC
KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KCMR
KPIN
KESS
KDEV
KNAR
KNUC
KPWR
KENV
KWWMN
KWMNCS
KPRV
KOM
KBTS
KCRS
KNPP
KWNM
KRFD
KVIR
KTBT
KAID
KRIM
KDDG
KRGY
KHSA
KWMM
KMOC
KSCI
KPAK
KX
KPAONZ
KCGC
KID
KPOA
KIFR
KFIN
KWAC
KOMS
KCRCM
KNUP
KMIG
KNNPMNUC
KERG
KTLA
KCSY
KJUST
MOPS
MARR
MASS
MNUC
MX
MCAP
MO
MR
MI
MD
MK
MA
MP
MY
MTCRE
MOPPS
MASC
MIL
MTS
MLS
MILI
MAR
MU
MEPN
MAPP
MTCR
MEPI
MZ
MEETINGS
MG
MW
MAS
MT
MCC
MIK
ML
MARAD
MV
MERCOSUR
MTRE
MPOS
MEPP
MILITARY
MDC
MQADHAFI
MUCN
MRCRE
MAPS
MEDIA
MASSMNUC
MC
NZ
NZUS
NL
NU
NATO
NP
NO
NIPP
NE
NH
NR
NA
NPT
NI
NSF
NG
NSG
NAFTA
NC
NDP
NEW
NRR
NATIONAL
NT
NS
NASA
NAR
NV
NORAD
NSSP
NK
NPA
NGO
NSC
NATOPREL
NW
NPG
NSFO
OPDC
OTRA
OIIP
OREP
OVIP
OSCE
OEXC
OIE
OPRC
OAS
OPIC
OTR
OMIG
OSAC
OFFICIALS
OECD
OSCI
OBSP
OFDA
OPCW
ODIP
OFDP
OES
OPAD
OCII
OHUM
OVP
ON
OIC
OCS
PHUM
PREL
PGOV
PINR
PTER
PARM
PREF
PM
PE
PINS
PK
PHSA
PBTS
PRGOV
PA
PORG
PP
PS
PGOF
PL
PO
PARMS
PKFK
PSOE
PEPR
PAK
POL
PPA
PINT
PMAR
PRELP
PREFA
PALESTINIAN
PBIO
PINF
PNG
PMIL
PFOR
PUNE
PGOVLO
PAO
POLITICS
PHUMBA
PSEPC
PTBS
PCUL
PROP
PNAT
PNR
POLINT
PGOVE
PROG
PHALANAGE
PARTY
PDEM
PECON
PROV
PHUMPREL
PGOC
PY
PCI
PLN
PDOV
PREO
PGIV
PHUH
PAS
PU
POGOV
PF
PINL
POV
PAHO
PRL
PG
PRAM
POLITICAL
PARTIES
POLICY
PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA
PGGV
PHUS
PSA
PHUMPGOV
PEL
PSI
PAIGH
POSTS
PBT
PTERE
RS
RU
RW
RM
RO
RP
REGION
RSP
RF
RICE
RCMP
RFE
RIGHTS
RIGHTSPOLMIL
ROBERT
RUPREL
RELATIONS
ROOD
REACTION
RSO
REPORT
SENV
SNAR
SCUL
SR
SC
SOCI
SMIG
SI
SP
SU
SO
SW
SY
SA
SZ
SAN
SF
SN
STEINBERG
SG
ST
SIPDIS
SNARIZ
SNARN
SSA
SK
SPCVIS
SOFA
SAARC
SL
SEVN
SARS
SIPRS
SHUM
SANC
SWE
SHI
SYR
SNARCS
SPCE
SYRIA
SEN
SH
SCRS
SENVKGHG
TRGY
TSPL
TPHY
TSPA
TBIO
TI
TW
THPY
TX
TU
TS
TZ
TC
TH
TT
TIP
TO
TERRORISM
TRSY
TINT
TN
TURKEY
TBID
TL
TV
TNGD
TD
TF
TP
TFIN
TAGS
TK
TR
UNSC
UK
UNGA
UN
US
UNHRC
UG
UP
UNMIK
UNHCR
UE
USTR
UNVIE
UAE
UZ
UY
UNO
UNESCO
USEU
USOAS
UV
UNODC
UNCHS
UNFICYP
UNEP
UNIDROIT
UNDESCO
UNDP
UNPUOS
UNC
UNAUS
USUN
UNCHC
UNCHR
UNCND
UNICEF
UNCSD
UNDC
USNC
USPS
USAID
Browse by classification
Community resources
courage is contagious
Viewing cable 05WELLINGTON387, NEW ZEALAND'S UNIONS FLEXING THEIR MUSCLES
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #05WELLINGTON387.
Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
05WELLINGTON387 | 2005-05-17 03:24 | 2011-04-28 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Wellington |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WELLINGTON 000387
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR DRL/IL AND EAP/ANP
E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND'S UNIONS FLEXING THEIR MUSCLES
(U) Sensitive but unclassified -- please protect
accordingly.
¶1. (U) Summary: After a decade of quiet on the labor front,
New Zealand's unions are again walking the picket line
against a spectrum of industries. Emboldened by union-
friendly legislation enacted in 2000 and 2004 and anxious to
grab a bigger slice of the country's recent prosperity,
organized labor has in recent months launched a series of
work stoppages in pursuit of higher wages. The stoppages
are expected to continue through the Southern Hemisphere
winter, possibly affecting the national election campaign
that will start sometime within the next 100 days. The
timing of labor's newfound restiveness does not please the
Labour government, which had thought it had appeased workers
by legislating stronger protections for employees, raising
the minimum wage, increasing annual leave and providing paid
parental leave. End summary.
Striking for more pay
---------------------
¶2. (U) In February, the Engineering, Printing and
Manufacturing Union (EPMU) -- New Zealand's largest union
with 50,000 members -- began a "Fair Share - Five in 05"
campaign, seeking a 5 percent annual increase in wages. The
campaign was endorsed by 32 other unions, all members of the
Council of Trade Unions. Organized labor sees the campaign
as the most important since 1991, when a National government
crippled the union movement by abolishing compulsory
unionism (closed shop) and national awards, which set
minimum pay rates and conditions in a particular industry
for all workers, even those not in a union.
¶3. (U) Metal workers on March 15 began a series of one-day
strikes in the first industrial action in pursuit of the
first national employment agreement in a decade. Other
workers -- including university staff, bank workers, bus
drivers, miners, hospital workers, furniture and
manufacturing workers and security guards -- have followed
in step. Most have engaged in brief work stoppages and
rolling strikes. A Colgate-Palmolive plant in Petone,
outside Wellington, was struck beginning April 4 for the
first time in its 50-year history. Coal miners walked out
nationwide for 48 hours starting April 21, their first
strike in more than 10 years. Staff members at the National
Bank of New Zealand held a one-day strike on April 22, their
first industrial action in almost 20 years. In April,
strikes were called at a rate of almost one a day. There
were only 34 work stoppages in all of 2004, when losses in
wages and salaries attributed to work stoppages fell to
their lowest levels since 1970.
¶4. (U) Unlike any year since 1991, this year's strikes are
hitting a broad cross-section of New Zealand industry,
according to labor and business leaders. "It feels like the
old days" of militant unionism, said Phil O'Reilly, chief
executive of Business New Zealand, which represents the
interests of businesses and employers. The recent strikes
may reverse a downward trend in work stoppages that started
in the late 1970s.
¶5. (U) The metal workers originally sought a 7 percent
annual pay raise, but in early May settled for something
less -- a 5 percent pay increase over 15 months. That works
out to an annualized increase of about 4 percent. The
agreement covers 70 companies so far and more than 1,000
workers. EPMU expects the industrial actions to continue
through the New Zealand winter, according to Peter Conway,
economist and policy/industrial director for the Council of
Trade Unions (CTU). The council's members represent about
88 percent of New Zealand's organized labor, or 300,000
workers.
Feeling strong, but discontent
------------------------------
¶6. (U) Two factors help explain the recent rise in labor
actions, according to business and union representatives.
First, organized labor is feeling empowered by two pieces of
legislation passed by the Labour government to spur union
membership. The Employment Relations Act of 2000, which
repealed the National government's 1991 labor relations law,
promotes and supports collective agreements rather than
individual contracts that had become the norm for New
Zealand workers. An amendment to the law, enacted in late
2004, makes it easier for unions to negotiate multi-employer
collective agreements and harder for companies to opt out of
such negotiations. The amendment "put more tools in unions'
hands," O'Reilly said.
¶7. (U) Second, workers also have become disgruntled watching
their wage rates grow more slowly than the New Zealand
economy. Average wage rates increased just 2.5 percent in
2004, amid an economy that grew 4.8 percent. Executives'
average salaries rose 5.2 percent last year, and company
profits -- based on tax data -- jumped 19 percent. (Even
Conway conceded that actual company profits may have been
less, since the data included new companies and reflected
some deferred losses.) With unemployment in 2004 at 3.6
percent, the lowest in the developed world, workers are
feeling emboldened to seek higher wages.
¶8. (U) Unions are presenting their demand for a 5 percent
wage increase as simply a means to provide workers with a
"fair share" of the economic growth of the last five years,
Conway said. O'Reilly criticized the EPMU's 5 percent
campaign for failing to consider differences between
industries. Some companies just cannot afford a one-size-
fits-all wage increase, he said. Conway noted that the rate
was based partly on 2.7 percent inflation in 2004 as
measured by the Consumers Price Index.
¶9. (U) Organized labor also is betting that its well-
publicized activism will revive interest in unions and boost
sagging membership. Union membership fell by half in the
eight years between the National government's 1991 reforms
and 1999. Unionized workers numbered 340,413 last year, or
21.5 percent of the workforce, compared to 51 percent of the
workforce in 1991, the last year when unions could bargain
for a closed shop. The Employment Relations Act of 2000
helped arrest the decline in membership, with unions gaining
40,000 new members since then. But that increase in
membership has not kept pace with strong employment growth
in recent years. The 2004 amendment could help make a
difference: It requires nonunion workers to pay a
"bargaining fee" to obtain wage rates and conditions
negotiated by a union. While the nonunion workers can
choose not to pay the fee, they then would have to negotiate
their own contracts. Employers expect that provision to
boost union membership, O'Reilly said.
Biting the hand that fed it
---------------------------
¶10. (U) The timing of the unions' campaign is odd, with the
economy showing signs of slowing and with workers' political
ally, the Labour Party, seeking a third term in this year's
election. Conway explained that, six months ago when the
unions were planning their strategy for wage hikes, the
economy still was booming. It is not unusual for pay
demands to lag economic reality, O'Reilly said.
¶11. (SBU) The unions also did not have the Labour government
foremost in its thoughts as it planned its drive for wage
increases. When the Prime Minister was asked by reporters
about the campaign, she reacted coolly, suggesting that any
pay negotiations should take into account the tax relief
that the government was providing to low- and middle-income
families beginning April 1. Conway acknowledged to post
that the EPMU had failed to adequately brief the Prime
Minister.
¶12. (U) Several government ministers have complained to the
EPMU about the campaign, Conway said. The ministers worry
that the industrial actions will become a campaign issue --
that the government will be blamed for low wages or for the
inconvenience the strikes cause, particularly a bus drivers'
action that repeatedly disrupted Auckland's commuter flow.
The opposition National Party already has blamed the
government's policies for the disruptions, claiming that tax
cuts would be a more effective way to raise incomes for all
New Zealanders.
¶13. (U) The ministers also worry about the effect on public-
sector negotiations, with several contracts coming up for
renewal later this year. The CTU is sensitive to these
concerns, Conway said. For example, it has cautioned the
striking bus drivers' union, which does not belong to the
CTU, that it risked alienating the public with its week-long
strike and rejection of a wage offer that appeared to be
reasonable.
¶14. (U) Nonetheless, Conway asserted that recent labor
activism was the result of the government not going far
enough in reforming the nation's labor law and not making it
easier to spread wage increases across industries. The
unions had hoped the 2004 amendment would institute a multi-
employer award system, similar to that in Australia. But
the unions realized they would not win such a provision in
the face of employers' strong opposition to even "mild"
elements of the amendment, Conway said.
¶15. (U) Meanwhile, government ministers are reported to be
mystified at what some see as labor's ingratitude. Since
1999, in addition to the legislated protections for workers,
the Labour government has provided an extra week of annual
leave, for a total of four weeks' paid leave; boosted the
minimum wage each year; increased wages for working on
holidays; and, introduced paid parental leave.
Comment
-------
¶16. (U) Old-time labor leaders can still recall when their
unions could slam the brakes on the New Zealand economy and
even bring about changes in political power. But those
memories are fading. Today's reality is that labor unions
wield limited political power and a marginal economic
impact. As a result, they are pursuing a bid to revive
their fortunes as shapers of the New Zealand economy and its
social fabric. With the effects of the 2004 amendment still
to be seen, it is too early to tell whether organized labor
can convert such legislative victories into significant
increases in public support and union membership. But the
unions' actions -- coming soon before general elections and
at what Finance Minister Cullen warns is the start of a long-
predicted economic downturn -- could hardly have come at a
worst time for the government.
SWINDELLS