New Zealand’s largest union organisation is putting working people firmly into the Election 2026 debate, warning rising unemployment, falling real wages and cost-of-living pressures are leaving many whānau struggling to keep their heads above water.
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, representing more than 370,000 workers, has launched its election push alongside a Briefing to the Incoming Government calling for stronger employment protections, sector-wide bargaining, restored pay equity and major economic reform.
NZCTU President Sandra Grey says the experiences being reported by workers show the economic pressure has moved well beyond household belt-tightening.
She says unions are hearing about parents skipping meals so their tamariki can eat and grandparents unable to have mokopuna stay because they cannot afford the additional food. Families are also withdrawing children from weekend sport because household budgets can no longer stretch far enough.
171,000 PEOPLE WITHOUT WORK
The union campaign comes with unemployment sitting at an 11-year high, with 171,000 New Zealanders unemployed.
NZCTU argues the economic recovery has failed to reach many working households and says stronger collective bargaining is needed to rebuild wages.
The Council wants Fair Pay Agreements restored, allowing minimum employment conditions to be negotiated across industries rather than solely workplace by workplace.
Pay equity is another major priority.
The Government’s 2025 changes extinguished 33 active pay equity claims covering more than 150,000 workers, with NZCTU identifying care and support workers as a priority should a new government restore the previous system.
The Council also wants 90-day trial periods abolished.
LUXON REJECTS UNION ATTACK
Grey has also taken direct aim at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, arguing many working people regard him as disconnected from the financial realities confronting ordinary households.
Luxon has rejected the criticism and accused unions and Labour of effectively being aligned politically.
NZCTU is preparing an advertising campaign later this month as part of its election strategy, following a similar campaign targeting Luxon during the 2023 election.
That makes clear the union movement will not simply publish policy proposals during this campaign. It intends to actively challenge the record of the current Government.
TE TIRITI BECOMES A WORKERS ISSUE
The Council is also putting Te Tiriti o Waitangi firmly inside its workers agenda.
NZCTU has condemned ACT’s proposal to eventually disestablish the Waitangi Tribunal and remove its jurisdiction over contemporary Crown actions.
NZCTU Vice President Māori Aubrey Wilkinson says the continuing disparities experienced by Māori workers demonstrate why contemporary Te Tiriti accountability remains relevant.
The Council points to higher Māori unemployment, pay disparities and higher levels of poverty among Māori rangatahi as examples of inequities that are happening now rather than belonging solely to the past.
ACT takes a fundamentally different position, arguing the Tribunal’s contemporary role has become too expansive and proposing it concentrate on completing eligible historical claims before being wound up.
The Tribunal was established in 1975 with jurisdiction over contemporary Crown actions, with its ability to retrospectively examine claims dating back to 1840 added in 1985.
KAIMAHI MĀORI HAVE PLENTY AT STAKE
For kaimahi Māori, the combination of unemployment, wages, employment rights and Te Tiriti makes this election particularly significant.
The union movement argues collective bargaining can help narrow both gender and ethnic pay gaps.
Earlier this year NZCTU also highlighted OECD findings showing real earnings for New Zealand workers had fallen 6.4 percent since 2021, which the Council says strengthens the case for rebuilding collective bargaining.
For whānau, those national statistics ultimately translate into much more immediate questions.
Is there enough money for kai after the rent or mortgage is paid? Can the power bill be covered? Can tamariki still play weekend sport? And if someone loses their job, how quickly can they find another one?
TAX, ENERGY AND PUBLIC SERVICES ALSO ON THE TABLE
NZCTU’s agenda extends beyond employment law.
Its Briefing to the Incoming Government includes proposals for a Minister for Just Transitions, a Ministry of Green Works, bringing the three major gentailers back into full public ownership, a capital gains tax and wider tax reform.
The Council argues New Zealand needs an economy that delivers secure jobs, decent incomes, affordable housing and properly funded public services.
That is the union movement’s prescription, and political parties on the centre-right will contest significant parts of it, particularly greater regulation, taxation and state ownership.
WORKERS HEADING FOR THE BALLOT BOX
With less than two months until Election Day, the union movement is making clear it intends to be an active participant in the campaign.
Its message combines wages and workplace rights with broader questions about inequality, public services, taxation and Te Tiriti.
The political argument over whether the Government is responsible for the hardship described by NZCTU will continue.
But with 171,000 people unemployed and hundreds of thousands of union members preparing to vote, the economic experience of working households is likely to be difficult for any political party to ignore.
For kaimahi Māori in particular, Election 2026 is increasingly becoming about more than who forms the next Government. It is about jobs, wages, whānau security, Te Tiriti and whether the economy working people help build is also working for them.
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