A family affair for CTU chief

It wasn't just a generational change the Council of Trade Unions marked with its leadership transition from Ross Wilson to Helen Kelly.

Her election to the union's top job yesterday was also a celebration of the first time a woman had assumed the CTU presidency.

Being the daughter of late union firebrand Pat Kelly added special poignancy to her "daunting" new position, which was confirmed at the council's biennial conference.

Her mother, Cath, was present for the election and Ms Kelly said her father had been in her thoughts. "He would have been very proud, I would imagine, and he was a fantastic father."

Putting sentiment aside, she said a priority was to promote combined union campaigns.

She intended to elaborate further today when the council launched its political strategy, but would encourage sharing resources between local unions and those further afield. "We'll be bringing in what we learned from the Australians and what we've learned from our own experiences and doing our politics smarter and better."

Conference guest speaker Sharan Burrow, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, spoke of her hope that, after 11 years of John Howard's administration, Australia could "see off a government that's turned its back on working people".

Under Australia's Work Choice laws, enshrined in individual contracts, almost every aspect of employees' rights had been eroded, she said.

Formerly protected conditions such as overtime, penalty rates and rest breaks had been removed and individual contract holders' incomes, compared with those on collective agreements, had fallen by up to $106 per week. In comparison to men, over the past two and a half years women had gone from earning 87 cents in the dollar to 84c.

"You put all that together and you've got a pretty shocking picture for women, family and people overall."

- © Fairfax NZ News