Jack McDonald

What the Equal Pay Act changes really mean for women OPINION: This is not a policy adjustment—it is a structural demolition of pay equity law, and it will lock in pay discrimination for years to come.

Melissa Ansell-Bridges has published a useful piece examining the pay equity changes in detail and explaining how they are not small policy changes but rather a structural demolition of pay equity law that will lock in pay discrimination for years to come. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3606...

Protect Pay Equity – stop scrapping equal pay claims and law Sign the petition: Protect Pay Equity

We're nearly at 55,000 signatures already! Sign on now and stand with us to oppose Christopher Luxon's gutting of the Equal Pay Act. #FightBackForPayEquity www.together.org.nz/fbt_for_pay_...

Protect Pay Equity – stop scrapping equal pay claims and law Join us in building a better world

We've launched a petition calling on MPs to reverse all pay equity claim cancellations, undo the Equal Pay Act changes, and deliver pay equity settlements to every worker waiting for their claim. Sign today and fight back against these attacks on women. www.together.org.nz/fbt_for_pay_...

Today we launched a campaign to ban the import, supply and use of engineered stone. Engineered stone is an unnecessary product that causes the fatal lung disease silicosis. We're petitioning the Govt to do the right thing and save workers' lives. Sign here: www.together.org.nz/ban_engineered_stone

Van Velden accused of undermining unions by scrapping 30-day rule A union boss says impending legislation risks employers encouraging workers away from union protection, support and coverage. Alice Peacock reports

"Employers will use this opportunity to encourage people to get into individual agreements away from union protection. The new arrangements are a definite effort by the minister to undermine people’s basic rights and undermine unions." Richard Wagstaff newsroom.co.nz/2025/04/10/v...

The debate about Māori and police we should be having OPINION: After a week of sensationalised faux outrage, Tamatha Paul is right to stand by her comments.

My piece on why Tamatha Paul is right to stand by her comments and the considerable amount of historical and contemporary evidence that highlights why Māori and other marginalised groups have good reason to not feel safe around the police.

When we fight back, we win.
#FightBackTogether #MarangaAke

The chorus of outrage at Tamatha Paul's comments from across the political establishment is just the latest example of how they are totally out of touch with the lived realities of Māori and how much they relish the opportunity to vilify working class Māori women.

Dean Wickliffe case highlights urgent need for prison reform OPINION: Former prime minister Bill English once said that prisons are a moral and fiscal failure. He was correct. We should be creating a roadmap towards a future without prisons.

The state should have responded to Dean Wickliffe with care and compassion. Instead it responded with punishment, hostility, and violence. No one should be sent to prison for being homeless. It is morally unjustifiable. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3606...

Cleaner hits out at Willis' plan to scrap Living Wage for new contracts The proposal sends a message that people like him don't matter, Liam Shaw says.

"The Living Wage basically allows me to survive. Before the Living Wage came in I was really struggling to afford groceries, especially considering how high my rent was, and the Living Wage has allowed me to thrive in what would be seen as a very basic sense." Liam Shaw.

New procurement rules hurt low-income workers - NZCTU New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff.

Nicola Willis has proposed that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in cleaning, catering, and security services that are procured by government. Thousands of low-paid workers now face the potential pay cuts. We strongly condemn these changes.

Cosying up to an empire that is lurching to the right OPINION: This is the greatest crisis facing humanity. We are living in a new gilded age.

My piece on how the billionaire class and their control of the global means of information and communication is the greatest crisis facing humanity, and how NZ needs to rethink its relationship with the US as it embraces oligarchy and white nationalism. www.thepost.co.nz/world-news/3...

NZCTU make submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill - NZCTU The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collectiv...

Today we lodged our submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill, which is direct attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori rights. Government must abandon this Bill and make no further attempts to distort the genuine principles of Te Tiriti.

Six years of work wasted – Holidays Act reform now years away - NZCTU Brooke van Velden has wasted six years of work from businesses, unions, and government by binning planned Holidays Act reforms, said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh in response to today’s annou...

Another day, another attack on workers. Today the Govt kicked the can on Holiday Act reform even further down the road, meaning an even longer delay for workers trying to get their basic rights to leave recognised. union.org.nz/six-years-of...

My piece on how Nicola Willis not even having a semblance of a plan to replace the Cook Strait ferries after a year of work is a catastrophic failure of leadership.
www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3605...

We are calling on political parties to vote down Brooke van Velden’s Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes Bill, as it will escalate industrial disputes and may even lead to workers losing pay for simply doing the job they were employed to do.