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Summit to tackle manufacturing job crisis

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EPMU's summit to tackle job crisis

3News NZ

Businesses, unions, economists and political parties will take part in the summit

Businesses, unions, economists and political parties will take part in the summit

A union which blames the Government's hands-off approach to the economy for a host of job losses in the manufacturing sector will host a summit to look at what can be done to stop more redundancies.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union says not enough is being done by the Government to support manufacturers and it needs to play an active role in managing the economy.

"No one who has seen the mass redundancies of recent months or the numbers of Kiwis heading to Australia can be unaware of the deepening jobs crisis in this country and the need for a new approach.

"The common thread through all of these redundancies is the hands-off approach of the last 30 years, which says the Government should keep out of the economy, leave our exchange rate to be set by speculators and accept the decline of manufacturing in this country as somehow inevitable," said EPMU national secretary Bill Newson.

He says there is a groundswell of support for a change in approach claiming there have been almost 40,000 manufacturing jobs lost since 2008.

Solid Energy, Norske Skog, Nuplex and KiwiRail are among companies that have cut their workforce in recent months.

"We need the government to step up and support our manufacturing sector and the jobs it provides.

"There are alternatives, and as a country we need to discuss them."

Businesses, unions, economists and political parties will take part in the summit in Auckland on Friday.

NZN

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Comments

8/10/2012 2:22:19 p.m.

@Perry S wrote:

Well said. Free trade with China = export NZ jobs to China. Add to that John Key's incompetence and the GFC and we have a total employment nightmare.

8/10/2012 11:35:06 a.m.

Perry Scrimgeour wrote:

As the owner of a small manufacturing company i can just about pin point the date of the beginning of the worst trading cycle in 40 years to the date we (Helen) signed the free trade agreement with China and gave away the ability of our manufacturing sector to achieve any real profitability.That combined with an over priced dollar makes it nigh on impossible to compete in our own market let alone oversea's. We don't train our people with proper apprentiships we can't pay them what they can earn in other countries because we can't generate enough margin to allow it. Meanwhile large multinational companies pay vertualy no tax international companies use us as a tax haven our assets are up for grabs our social welfare system is crippling us our health and education systems once the toast of the world are in tatters.Is it any wonder that our young people look further afield? It's time to keep Kiwi's working

8/10/2012 11:34:04 a.m.

Mike wrote:

In the good years unions took pay rises for no productivity gains.

Here we have recession and the flip-side of unions taking payrises in good years should be the unions taking paycuts for its members in recession.

That would be the union working for a solution to save jobs. Chances of that happening? ZERO! Unions care zip about members jobs.

For the Kiwis moving overseas to work. Where are they going? As most countries have done less well than NZ in the last 4 years and NZ has closed the gap.

In 2008 when National took over our min wage was around 35th in the world. Since then our min wage has improved internationally so now it was 9th in 2011. Given a few just above us dipping with the EU crisis, we are probably about 5th.

Exclude Aus mining and we have even done better than Aus in the last 4 years! But we know how everyone likes mining.

Those in Aus outside mining have noticed the recession even more than NZ generally, ie the gap has closed with rising cost of living in Aus. There still is a gap, and basically anyone prepared to move and work will always find work here in NZ or overseas, but most Kiwis to lazy to get off their backsides to even help themselves. We still have sizable numbers of immigrants moving to NZ to work as we are still so much better than most of the world.

8/10/2012 11:06:54 a.m.

William wrote:

I'll put my left one on the chances that absolutly nothing will come out from this. New Zealanders will still leave for better pay and other incentives to work in another country. How long as it been since the government noticed the rise in kiwis leaving and only now they'er getting around to talking about it..