While New Zealand's community sector workers continue to struggle for decent wages, the same workers in Australia have just been awarded pay rises of 19 to 41 per cent, says the PSA.

"The Ports of Auckland dispute has been presented in the media as a conflict between an employer seeking to improve productivity in the workplace and workers that want to retain their conditions of work at the expense of productivity.

New Zealand's structural problem of low wages is driving the gap between the rich and poor, FIRST Union said today.

Salary and wage rates, which include overtime, increased 2.0 percent in the year to the December 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This rise follows a 2.0 percent increase in the year to the September 2011 quarter.

Building work needs to pick up to keep workers in employment and ensure local sawmills stay in business, a union for wood processing workers said today.

The national employment indicator shows that the number of filled jobs held by wage and salary earners remained relatively flat in October 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today.

By Megan Alexander, general manager at Robert Half New Zealand

The number of skilled job vacancies advertised online decreased slightly across most industry and occupation groups in December compared to the previous month but were up 7.7% on December 2010, according to the latest analysis by the Department of Labour.

New Zealand's $1 billion commercial cleaning industry just took another step forward with CrestClean celebrating its 15 year anniversary by announcing ambitious growth plans in both New Zealand and Asia.

The ANZ New Zealand job advertisement series, which sums newspaper and internet ads, fell 2.3 percent in December (s.a.), confirming a gently declining trend. The seasonally adjusted series has fallen in three of the last four months.

Hiring intentions in the South Island are at an eight-year high, according to the latest Hudson Report Employment and HR Trends. A net 40.1% of employers in the region intend to increase permanent staff numbers in the first quarter of 2012, which is more than double the national average.

Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand. Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand. Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand. Job ads increased by 9.3% year on year in 2011, according to new data released by www.seek.co.nz today.

The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence index fell 4.6 points in the December quarter, from 104.2 to 99.6. This is the lowest level of the index since June 2009, when it stood at 96.1.

Salaries grew by over $3,000 in 2011, data released by SEEK New Zealand today has shown. The average national Kiwi pay packet increased 5% to $73,530 per annum across jobs advertised on www.seek.co.nz.

The CTU is reminding workers of their rights during the holiday season. Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, said that it is a busy period for some businesses, especially in the hospitality and tourism sectors.

As Christmas Day approaches, one of only 3 and � days of guaranteed time-off for retail workers, a shop worker says she is gutted that she will again have to fight off attempts to take away family time at Easter for workers in her industry.

Careers New Zealand is encouraging young people looking for work these holidays to get creative in their approach to job seeking.

A new report released today by the Canterbury Employment and Skills Board (CESB) brings together a wide range of labour market indicators, modelling results and qualitative information to tell the story of the economic impact of the earthquakes on Canterbury.

New research out today highlights the expanding job and training opportunities in Canterbury and some challenges as the rebuild gets underway in 2012.

Job opportunities have grown by 10% over the last 12 months, with over 250,000 jobs advertised on New Zealand's largest job source, www.seek.co.nz, since November 2010.

What onus is on employers to protect staff who are working alone? Employment lawyers Scott Wilson and Summer Pringle, of Duncan Cotterill, look at this issue. The safety of employees who are working alone or travelling to work at unusual times is under the spotlight.

As we put 2011 behind us and look towards the New Year, Paul Robinson, Director of Randstad New Zealand, says 2012 is looking set to be busier for organisations and their employees and jobseekers will see an increasing number of job opportunities, yet the tightening of the candidate market is lik

New Zealand's employers have received a passing report card, ranking higher than their contemporaries in Australia, the US, and the UK, according to the latest survey results from global workforce solutions leader, Kelly Services.

Skills shortages are now experienced by 59 per cent of organisations in New Zealand, according to a survey by recruiting experts Hays.

The number of filled jobs held by wage and salary earners grew over the year to September 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today. The number of seasonally adjusted filled jobs in September 2011 increased by 1.2 percent, compared with September 2010.

New Zealanders may have embraced Bollywood films, the Diwali Festival of Lights and Indian cuisine, but highly qualified migrants from India struggle to get work here, a new report says.

Helen Kelly, CTU President said today that union officials are being denied access to the workers in the CMP Rangitiki plant which shows that John Key's union access law is unreasonable and puts us at risk of being in breach of international conventions.

Sydney - Qantas has been unable to reach a new agreement with the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) and both parties have concluded that Fair Work Australia will need to resolve the dispute.

The National Wage and Salary Survey data just out indicates employers have been focusing on retaining their key people, says David Lowe, Employment Services Manager for the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern).

ManpowerGroup New Zealand's new 2011 Borderless Workforce research has found that 39 per cent of employers in New Zealand look outside the country's borders to address skills shortages, with foreign talent most important in 'engineers', 'technicians' and 'skilled manual trade' job categories, and