Changes called for in wage fixing
PA Wellinton New Zealand’s wage-fix-ing system was outdated, inflexible and needed to be more responsive to market forces, said the executive director of the Employers’ Federation Mr J. W. Rowe, in Geneva. In a speech to the International Labour Conference, Mr Rowe said it was a wonder that the system had survived as long as it had. "The omens are that the country was ready for voluntary unionism,” he said. “The decision to make union membership voluntary may well prove a crucial step towards a reformed union structure and reform of the wage fixing system. “Both are now archaic, and go a long way towards explaining the country’s poor economic performance in recent years,” he said. He said that the wage freeze had reduced inflation 14 per cent to 3¥z per cent a year and that changes to wage fixing were essential to avoid in inflationary “blow-out” when the freeze was lifted. Mr Rowe said that a return to a system based on the Arbitration Court was not credible, given present union attitudes. “Somehow wage fixing in New Zealand must be made more responsive to market forces and more flexible,” he said.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840612.2.122
Bibliographic details
Press, 12 June 1984, Page 18
Word Count
198Changes called for in wage fixing Press, 12 June 1984, Page 18
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.