Casual work hours are not enough for families - Labour candidate
Labour Party candidate for Invercargill Dr Liz Craig says precarious and casual working arrangements are putting families and working people behind.
Casual jobs, unpredictable work hours and low pay are becoming normal in New Zealand, says the Labour Party.
Labour Party candidate for Invercargill Liz Craig says precarious working conditions are not enough - and some employees might find themselves applying for new jobs again and again.
At a public meeting on Sunday, with Labour spokesperson for workplace relations Iain Lees-Galloway, Craig addressed an audience of about 30 on jobs and employment issues.
Labour Party spokesperson for workplace relations Iain Lees-Galloway speaks to at a public meeting on jobs and employment, in Invercargill.
Guest speaker NZEI Te Riu Roa lead organiser Dayle Belcher said in New Zealand, everyone used to expect to have a reasonable job and a reasonable pay with an employer who respected them.
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Insecure work situations and low pay were the new reality, Belcher said.
Precarious work, or insecure work which could not support a household, was an issue in New Zealand and overseas, she said.
"More than 60 per cent of workers worldwide are now in what's considered precarious work."
In 2013, the number of people in New Zealand in precarious working conditions was at 30 per cent and was rising, she said.
It could include unsafe working conditions, she said.
Employees might be afraid to talk about health and safety risks with their employer for fear of missing out on casual hours, she said.
Additionally, she said more and more employers were using job agencies to find contracted employees to do their work.
Belcher provided the example of school teachers, whose job stability could change with a school term, and said it was not the fault of the schools.
A retail employee would have 20 hours, if they were lucky, she said.
"A lot of people can't always get mortgages because the banks are not going to look at precarious workers and unreliable income."
The insecurity of differing work hours each week on a casual basis could lead to continual stress, arguments and substance abuse, she said.
"People are starting to see this work as normal ... this is not the New Zealand I was brought up in.
"We're going to completely lose the real New Zealand."
Permanent hours, full working weeks, and an hourly rate and safe working practices were what people needed, she said.
Craig said employment directly impacted Invercargill's economy.
Poor employment conditions were contributing to child poverty over time, she said.
Craig said parents were becoming stuck on benefits.
Parents were ending up in situations where they were working, having a benefit abated, and were still not getting ahead, she said.
As a doctor, Craig said she saw that it was children living in poverty who were at risk of developing respiratory problems and ending up in hospital.
Craig said her own father had to search for work in his late 50s.
"I remember the struggle we had as a family ... he had to write 60 different work applications. Every week he would go and do more job applications, until he finally got a job."
He got a job at a clothing factory, a fairly low-paying job, she said.
However, at 40 hours a week he worked there for seven years until he retired.
"That job kept us going as a family."
Craig compared this to her son's job hunt in the same process.
"What would happen is he would apply for a job and get some work, and it would be for a shift here, two shifts there, casual employment.
"It was basically minimum wage jobs, but only a few hours at a time."
Craig said every time her son got a job, it went for a few weeks and would "disappear".
"What we've got is these insecure jobs where you're always casual, you're always part time, you're always hungry for more hours.
"That's fine if you're living with your mother and you can use it for petrol money ... but what if you're trying to run a family?"
The old adage that if people worked hard they would get ahead did not apply for many people in New Zealand, Craig said.
- Stuff
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