New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

We all need time away from work - do you feel you can ‘switch off’ newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/15/uni…

A Right to Disconnect law would protect Kiwi workers in a changing world of work. We are calling on political parties to pass a law as soon as possible.

Laws that give employees a right to switch off are already working in other countries. France, Ireland, Germany and Australia have all introduced strong ‘right to disconnect’ laws. In Australia, a Right to Disconnect law meant that unpaid overtime hours dropped in 2024.

Workers in this country are constantly on the job. It's time for a right to switch off law in New Zealand. reimagineaotearoa.nz/a_legislative_…

#nzpol There’s one day left to fill out our annual Mood of the Workforce survey! We can’t afford to keep letting the wealthy and powerful lead the conversation. Help us put worker voices on the agenda this election year: nzctu.typeform.com/Workforce2026

2/2 The Mood of the Workforce 2026 will be dropping early January. Sign up to be the first to know: ww.together.org.nz

1/2 At the start of 2025 we ran our annual Mood of the Workforce survey. Since then it's been a tough year for working people and their whānau - before we head into 2026, take a look at how workers were feeling at the start of this year:

New GDP data from Stats NZ shows that the economy is flatlining – and is still smaller than it was at the election. For all their talk of green shoots, the Govt continues to fail workers. Unemployment is up, and cost of living is rising for middle and low-income New Zealanders.

New GDP data released today from Statistics New Zealand showed that the economy flatlined over the past six months, and overall, the economy is still smaller than it was at the election: union.org.nz/gdp-data-shows…

The Govt parties don’t have a mandate for this Bill. They didn’t campaign on it and 80% of submitters opposed it at select committee. We're deeply disturbed by this Bill—it is an attack on democracy and must be reversed.

The Bill will particularly disenfranchise low-income workers, Māori, Pasifika, Asian, and young people. This is voter suppression, and it is totally unacceptable. There is simply no justification.

The Government has just rushed through its voter suppression law. The Electoral Amendment Bill will disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters - it has no place in a healthy democracy. union.org.nz/voter-suppress…

Today the government announced that the minimum wage will rise by 2% in April 2026. On current forecasts this will represent the 3rd successive year in which minimum wage workers will face a real terms cut in pay. Over the past 3 years full time workers are $4,184 worse off. A 🧵

The National-led Government is leaving low-paid workers behind. They've increased the Minimum Wage by 2% from April 1st 2026 - marking the third year in a row that the Minimum Wage will have fallen behind inflation. #nzpol @GreyNZ

Putting workers into more precarious work helps no-one - except for the wealthy multinationals that this Bill benefits. The Employment Relations Amendment Bill should be scrapped. #nzpol #NZpolitics @GreyNZ

“The Bill is antithetical to workers’ rights and represents the worst attack on workers since the Employment Contracts Act in the 90s. Workers will not forget this at the ballot box next year.” said CTU President @GreyNZ

No one is safe from the erosion of rights and conditions that this Bill allows. It's been drafted to please corporate multinationals like Uber - following the Supreme Court win for Uber drivers, the Govt has made changes that will prevent those workers from achieving any justice.

This Bill threatens every worker in New Zealand. Brooke van Velden's Employment Relations Amendment Bill has come back from Select Committee - and she's made it EVEN WORSE for workers. #nzpol union.org.nz/employment-bil…