New Zealand’s union movement has put the next Government on notice, calling for Fair Pay Agreements and pay equity legislation to be restored within its first 100 days as workers struggle with high unemployment, cost-of-living pressures and falling purchasing power.
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi has released its Briefing to the Incoming Government, setting out 16 priorities across three broad areas — good work, a just economy, and modern public services and infrastructure.
The NZCTU represents more than 370,000 workers across 32 affiliated unions, giving the document significant weight as organised labour sets out what it wants from whichever parties form a Government after the November election.
FAIR PAY AGREEMENTS BACK AT THE TOP OF THE LIST
NZCTU President Sandra Grey says restoring Fair Pay Agreements should be among the first actions of the incoming Government.
The former Fair Pay Agreements system was designed to establish minimum employment standards across industries and occupations rather than relying solely on agreements between individual employers and workers.
The union movement argues that is particularly important in industries such as cleaning and supermarkets, where it says competition between employers can place downward pressure on wages and employment conditions.
NZCTU is also calling for the restoration of the previous pay equity framework, arguing changes made last year weakened the ability of workers in female-dominated occupations to pursue claims addressing historic undervaluation.
Those demands ensure employment law will remain a major dividing line during Election 2026.
171,000 UNEMPLOYED AS WORKERS FEEL THE SQUEEZE
The briefing comes against a difficult economic backdrop.
NZCTU points to Stats NZ figures showing 171,000 people were unemployed in the June 2026 quarter, while around 440,000 people were underutilised.
Grey says working people have endured several years in which incomes have struggled to keep pace with living costs, leaving households increasingly stretched.
The union movement is also drawing attention to inequality, pointing to one in seven children and one in ten people aged over 65 living in poverty.
At the other end of the economic spectrum, NZCTU says the combined wealth of the 150 people on the NBR Rich List increased by $27 billion over the past year to $129 billion.
For the Council, those figures demonstrate an economy increasingly delivering very different experiences depending on where people sit within it.
90-DAY TRIALS AND WORKPLACE LAW IN THE FIRING LINE
The briefing goes well beyond wages.
NZCTU wants 90-day employment trial periods abolished and is calling for corporate manslaughter legislation.
It also wants the next Government to repeal the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act 2026 and the Employment Leave Act before their provisions take effect.
The union movement argues stronger worker protections and health and safety laws are essential parts of creating good employment rather than barriers to economic growth.
Employers and political parties favouring greater labour-market flexibility are likely to take a substantially different view, setting up another clear election contest over the balance between worker protections and business regulation.
NZCTU WANTS CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Tax reform is another major part of the union agenda.
NZCTU is backing a capital gains tax, arguing the current system places too much of the burden on income earned through work.
The Council points to Inland Revenue research into high-wealth individuals as evidence of significant differences between the effective tax rates experienced by some of New Zealand’s wealthiest families and ordinary wage and salary earners.
NZCTU says rebalancing taxation would provide additional revenue for the public services and infrastructure workers and their whānau rely upon.
The extent to which wealth and capital should be taxed is already shaping up as one of Election 2026’s biggest economic debates.
POWER COMPANIES ALSO IN UNION SIGHTS
Electricity prices are another target.
NZCTU says household power prices have risen 12 percent in a year and argues the partially state-owned gentailers have incentives to maximise returns rather than invest sufficiently in additional generation.
The Council wants the Government to make greater use of its majority shareholdings to influence the companies in the interests of households.
That proposal comes as electricity generation and energy security become increasingly prominent election issues, with political parties already debating renewable generation, market reform, LNG and the future structure of the electricity sector.
A MĀORI WORKFORCE ISSUE TOO
The union agenda carries particular relevance for Māori workers.
Māori unemployment remains substantially above the national rate, while Māori workers are strongly represented in sectors such as healthcare, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, cleaning, retail and the public service.
Questions around collective bargaining, pay equity, job security and public service investment therefore have direct consequences for thousands of whānau Māori.
They also intersect with the growing political mobilisation of Māori workers ahead of the election, with unions increasingly encouraging members to enrol, vote and scrutinise what parties are offering working people.
16 PRIORITIES — AND A CHALLENGE TO POLITICAL PARTIES
NZCTU says its 16-point programme is intended to provide the next Government with a practical pathway for improving working lives, strengthening public services and creating what it considers a fairer economy.
But it is also an unmistakable political challenge.
The union movement wants Fair Pay Agreements back. It wants pay equity restored. It wants 90-day trials gone. It wants stronger workplace protections, corporate manslaughter laws, tax reform and greater government intervention in electricity.
Not every political party will agree.
That is precisely why the briefing matters heading towards 7 November.
With more than 370,000 union members behind the movement, NZCTU has now put its election priorities on the table. The question is which political parties are prepared to pick them up — and what they will offer workers instead if they do not.
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