The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi
has launched a new policy platform, Aotearoa
Reimagined, which has been developed by engaging
workers, community leaders and policy experts over the past
year.
“Today we are announcing a transformative
policy vision that reimagines our society and economy to
ensure that Aotearoa New Zealand works for the many, not
just the few. We challenge political parties to make a
strong commitment to working people by adopting these
policies in the lead up to the next general election,”
said NZCTU President Richard
Wagstaff.
“Our country is heading in the
wrong direction. We have a broken economy, rising inequality
and poverty, soaring unemployment, and stagnating wages. The
rich keep getting richer at the expense of ordinary people.
We need to do things differently. It’s time for bold
change.
“We’ve spent the last year
listening to workers who have told us that they are angry at
a system that doesn’t meet their needs or aspirations.
They fear their children are facing a future of increasing
hardship.
“Everyone deserves security, dignity, and
to have enough to thrive. Changing the country’s
trajectory is possible—we just need to make different
choices. We have listened to working people and created a
plan to build a society that works for
everyone.
“Our plan would ensure everyone can have
good, well-paid jobs underpinned by strong workers’
rights.
“It will deliver world-leading public health
and education, a cradle-to-grave care and support system,
modern infrastructure, warm dry, affordable homes, clean and
publicly owned energy, and low-cost transport.
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“The
plan would ensure that Aotearoa meets its climate
obligations and guarantees a just transition for the workers
and communities who will bear the brunt of the climate
crisis and technological change.
“We are also
calling on politicians to reject the politics of division
and honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by implementing it in law
and in our constitutional frameworks.
“We can fund
the transformative change we desperately need by rebalancing
the tax system, taxing capital gains and ensuring that the
wealthy pay their fair share.
“The union movement is
challenging political parties to make this vision a reality
and create an Aotearoa that works for the many, not just the
few. It’s time for a new approach,” said
Wagstaff.
