June 28, 2006

The Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and says that grow­ing pres­sure to bring unskilled labour into Aus­tralia under a free trade agree­ment has con­firmed its worst fears.

Mari­time Uni­on Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Tre­vor Han­son says that pro­pos­als to allow com­pan­ies to import unskilled Chinese work­ers into Aus­trali­an ports and con­struc­tion sites gave a clear mes­sage to New Zea­l­and work­ers.

“This is the equi­val­ent of a huge neon sign flash­ing out the warn­ing that free trade deals will inev­it­ably lead to a col­lapse in wages, con­di­tions and work­ers rights. It is time we have a nation­al debate on free trade, and get the issue away from the con­trol of bur­eau­crats and private interest groups.”