Jan 25, 2018  - The changes to the 90-day trial period announced today by the Government will present additional challenges for medium sized manufacturers to finding the right staff they need, adding to the already critical skill shortage issues which hold back growth of the sector.

Jan 25, 2018  -  Wine maturation startup Wine Grenade has recruited technology executive Brett O’Riley to its board.  The appointment of O’ Riley, who also becomes chairperson, strengthens Wine Grenade’s commercialisation capabilities as the company expands into new wine growing territories and leverages data captured during maturation.

Jan 25, 2018  -  E tū, the biggest private-sector union in New Zealand, is pleased with most of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill announced by the Government today.

E tū National Secretary Bill Newson says that the process is “off to a flying start”, with many improvements for working people and their unions.

Bill says the changes recognise the pressing concerns about the personal and economic cost of low wages and inequality.

“This Government has made fixing inequality a top priority. Wages are a huge factor in this, so strengthening the rights of workers and their unions is critical,” Bill says.

“We see this bill as a big leap forward towards a fair and equitable society.”

Bill says the changes restore many of the rights that were taken away by the last Government.

“We can celebrate some big wins for all workers, such as the restoration of statutory rest and meal breaks and the restoration of reinstatement as the primary remedy to unfair dismissal.”

Bill says working people will also be in a better position thanks to strengthened collective bargaining and union rights.

“Unions will have improved access to workplaces, making unions more available to their members and prospective members. It’s also great that employers will be required to pass on information about active unions – people need to know about the best vehicle for their voice in the workplace. Paid time for union delegates to represent their colleagues will be a much-deserved recognition of the important work that union delegates carry out.

“In short, what we are seeing is the reversal of much of National’s damaging industrial relations policies, along with some exciting new initiatives.”

However, E tū is disappointed that 90-day trial periods could remain for employers with 20 or fewer workers.

“There isn’t a majority in parliament in support of scrapping the 90-day ‘fire at will’ law in its entirety, which is disappointing,” Bill says.

“This is the nature of a coalition government under MMP. It’s now our task, as part of the wider labour movement, to improve this part of the bill.

“We’ll be there at select committees to explain why any ‘fire at will’ law is both unfair and unnecessary.”

| An E tū release   ||  January 25, 2018   |||

Jan 25, 2018  - 19-year-old Erik Finman made headlines last year when the value of his bitcoin holdings hit the $US1 million mark – meaning he won a bet with his parents and didn’t have to go to college.

Jan 25, 2018  -  Prices rose 0.1 percent in the December 2017 quarter, Stats NZ said today. Higher petrol prices, air fares, and housing-related costs were countered by lower prices for vegetables, new cars, and a range of household goods.

Jan 23, 2018  -  Digital learning skills, smarter homes and medical drone deliveries will be major tech developments that will significantly impact lives of Kiwis, a leading New Zealand tech expert says.  NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says while the tech talk is often about issues such as robots stealing jobs or virtual reality worlds New Zealanders may sometimes overlook some of the advances that are happening already that will be important for Kiwis in the coming days of 2018.

Jan 23, 2018  -  Business representatives on the pay equity working group have welcomed the resumption of work towards new pay equity legislation.

New Zealand visit indicated live sheep, fresh water

Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal’s rapid reversal of fortune in recent months is conclusive proof that money cannot buy you friends and most definitely not influential ones.

From Bill Gates through to such media honchos as Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg, the prince’s pals and associates have been characterised by their silence on the prince’s undeniably serious plight.

Not a peep either from former New Zealand prime minister John Key who we picture meeting the prince in Riyadh officially to push the New Zealand cause.

Jan 23, 2018  - Coinbase just hired former Twitter and Salesforce executive Tina Bhatnagar to improve the company’s customer support.  Bhatnagar has two major tasks: to double the size of the company’s support team in three months, and to expand its phone support into a 24/7 service by the second quarter of 2018. It’s the latest step taken by the crypto unicorn to curtail widespread criticism about its ability to handle customer concerns while scaling.

Jan 22, 2018  - Innovative New Zealand ISP Wireless Nation is launching an asset locating tracker whichcould save thousands of dollars for many businesses and individuals.  The Fox Tracker is a small device which connects to the global Sigfox network being rolled out throughout New Zealand.  The network is specifically designed to enable Internet of Things devices because it draws far less energy from connected devices than traditional networks.