Wellington, Oct 7 NZPA - Figures showing median weekly incomes have stagnated for two years, mean that when adjusted for inflation they have fallen more than 4 percent, the Council of Trade Unions says.

Wellington, Sept 27 NZPA - Tax cuts which come into effect on Friday are unfair and will fail to drag New Zealand out of recession, a union economist says. A package of income tax cuts takes effect on Friday and at the same time GST will go from 12.5 to 15 percent.

By Kevin Norquay of NZPA Wellington, May 21 NZPA - The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) was a lone wolf howling in the darkness yesterday, outnumbered by tax specialists who declared Finance Minister Bill English's budget as resilient as a house built from bricks.

Wellington, May 16 NZPA - Health needs an additional $555 million in the budget just to keep up with population growth, ageing, medical advances and staff costs, the Council of Trade Unions says.

Wellington, May 4 NZPA - The Government is optimistic it will do even better than Australia in terms of boosting superannuation for wage earners, says Finance Minister Bill English.

Wellington, May 4 NZPA - Tax and superannuation reforms announced in Australia at the weekend were made under circumstances unique to that country and changes on the agenda here will be made with a different set of objectives, says Finance Minister Bill English.

Wellington, May 4 NZPA - An increase in compulsory employer contributions to superannuation in Australia may see more New Zealanders moving across the Tasman, commentators say.

Wellington, May 3 NZPA - Australia's planned corporate tax rate of 28 percent will have to be at least matched by New Zealand, otherwise investment will flow to Australia, Business New Zealand says.

Wellington, April 15 NZPA - Unions and Amnesty International have raised concerns about the private sector getting involved in running prisons and building schools.

Wellington, Feb 10 NZPA - Opposition parties are going to fight the Government over its plan to raise GST and don't accept assurances that the new tax regime will be fair on low income families.