All parties should support enquiry into manufacturing
green-party
Wed Sep 26 2012 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
All parties should support enquiry into manufacturing
Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 11:05 am
Press Release: Green Party
Media release: FIRST Union
Wednesday September 26, 2012
All parties should support enquiry into manufacturing
All political parties with an interest in protecting jobs should support a proposed enquiry into manufacturing, FIRST Union said today.
Green Party Co Leader Russel Norman will today seek the support of Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Select Committee to hold an inquiry into job losses in the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing is New Zealand’s third largest employing industry, but workers in the sector have been paying the price for government inaction through job losses, FIRST Union General Secretary Robert Reid said.
“Members of our union in the wood processing and textiles sectors have been hit hard with redundancies. In many cases, employers are telling us the persistently high New Zealand dollar is making their operation uneconomic.”
“There is now a growing consensus around the need for policy changes to support manufacturing. But the government is refusing to engage in any meaningful debate.”
“Governments do have options available to them. A high dollar is not a natural phenomenon over which we have no control, as it is often painted. Better use of government procurement settings can support local jobs. And temporary Job Support Schemes, brought in at the peak of the recession, should be brought back for sectors facing significant redundancies.”
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FIRST Union has been campaigning for many years on the need for better support for our productive sectors, Robert Reid said.
This had included calling for changes to monetary policy to better support jobs, active involvement in the Green and Labour party’s Buy Kiwi Made campaign and monitoring trade agreements for their effect on manufacturing and employment.
“A select committee enquiry won’t bring back the more than 500 jobs lost or at risk this week alone, and the thousands before them.”
“But it will draw attention to the jobs crisis facing manufacturing, and what can be done about it,” Robert Reid said.
Ends.
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