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The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report received in August 2009, including its reply to the 2005 observation as well as comments of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and Business New Zealand.

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Government indicates that Work and Income is part of the Ministry of Social Development. Its role is to help to find work and to pay income support on behalf of the Government. Work and Income has over 4,000 employees with 143 service centres nationwide, regional offices in 11 regions and a national office based in Wellington. Work and Income has also five contact centres located across the country. The NZCTU states that the current economic recession is accompanied by higher levels of redundancies and rising unemployment. It expresses its concern that the statements of the Government on the assistance to be provided to workers facing unemployment have not been backed up by substantive action. In particular, the NZCTU refers to the budget cuts envisaged for tertiary education, including adult and community education, despite the increased training needs for the unemployed having been layed off due to the crisis. The NZCTU also points out that the situation is particularly difficult for young workers; the current youth unemployment rate being just under 20 per cent. The Government indicates that it has introduced a comprehensive range of economic stimulus and social assistance measures to help the country respond to the current global economic situation. These measures include a job support scheme and a specific youth opportunity package aimed at creating new work, education and training opportunities for young persons. The Committee notes the NZCTU’s comments concerning the measures recently taken to implement the Social Security Amendment Act 2007, which require parents or guardians of school-age children to plan for, or take up employment, despite the existing shortage of affordable quality childcare. The NZCTU also expresses concern over the partial restructuring of the employment service proposed by the Government, including plans to close the Child, Youth and Family centres in the provinces. The Government clarifies that the current restructuring is being carried out primarily at the national level and aims at refocusing the operations of the Child, Youth and Family service by strengthening frontline service delivery, whereas no changes are being made to the regional structure of the public employment service. The Committee refers to its comments on the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and invites the Government to provide information, in its next report on the measures taken to achieve the best possible organization of the employment market, in particular by adapting the network of the public employment service to the needs of the economy and the active population.

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ representatives. The NZCTU reiterates that there are no advisory committees on general employment services, or employment policies and practices, with representation of the NZCTU or other unions. It emphasizes the need for the Government to consult in a more systematic way, and to directly involve, workers’ representatives in the development of employment policies and practices that will deliver effective measures to respond to pressures caused by the economic recession. While acknowledging that representatives of the Ministry of Labour meet regularly with the NZCTU officers to discuss a range of issues and that irregular consultations are held on specific topics, the NZCTU considers that this does not constitute full and meaningful consultation as required under Article 4 of the Convention. As a consequence, unions are not provided with an overview of future developments, nor are they enabled to suggest improvements to employment service policy and practice. In its reply, the Government indicates that it regularly consults the social partners, and that advisory committees or working parties may be established for specific projects where such a focus is required. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the Convention requires that suitable arrangements should be made through advisory committees for the cooperation of representatives of employers and workers in the organization and operation of the employment service and in the development of employment service policy, and that the representatives on these committees should be appointed after consultation with representative organizations of employers and workers. Furthermore, the general policy of the employment service in regard to referral of workers to available employment should be developed after consultation with representatives of employers and workers through these advisory committees. The Committee asks the Government to include in its next report further information on the consultations which have taken place with regard to the adoption of measures to give full effect to the essential requirements provided under Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention.

Article 6, paragraphs (b)(iv) and (c). Movement of workers. In its comments, the NZCTU refers to the difficult situation of many migrant workers who had been encouraged by immigration services to move to New Zealand and who are now facing termination of their contracts and whose temporary work visas are not renewed. The NZCTU suggests that skill shortages lists be reviewed to ensure that migrant workers are not provided misleading information. The Government indicates that its immigration policy has always been based on ensuring that citizens have been given priority in hiring; however, it points out that New Zealand still needs skilled migrants and that these needs are reflected in skill shortages lists, which are reviewed yearly based on extensive consultations with key government departments, employers’ groups, training organizations and unions. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the measures taken to facilitate any movement of workers from one country to another, as well as on the measures adopted to ensure that the fullest available information on the situation of the employment market and its probable evolutions, including skill shortages in specific sectors, are made available to the public authorities, the social partners and the general public.