KEY POINTS:
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) has cautiously welcomed the trade deal between China and New Zealand, but says it wants to ensure that workers do not suffer as a result of it.
Sharon Clair CTU Maori vice president said the CTU wanted to acknowledge what was a significant historical event and were generally in favour of the deal.
"We are under no illusions that we are a small country that requires to trade," Ms Clair said.
She would not directly criticise the decision to allow 1800 specialised skilled Chinese to work in New Zealand for up to three years, but said the CTU had long believed that migration policy should not be part of trade deals.
"What we need to see is that we have some labour and industry standard...to insure that the skilled workers who come to China from New Zealand do not find themselves being paid for their skills on a minimum wage."
The CTU did not believe the policy would displace New Zealanders from jobs, but would work to ensure that the imported workers were treated fairly.
"There is a memorandum of labour, we will be very keen to see the wording around that," Ms Clair said.
"It is a good thing there is a memorandum of labour, this is China we are talking about and we see it as an act of solidarity."
The CTU had concerns about the effect of the reduction of tariffs on the New Zealand workforce in the manufacturing sector.
The deal could mean more jobs as those businesses exporting into China would grow and this meant more employment, but the New Zealand workforce had to become more skilled, she said.
* Ian Llewellyn is in Beijing with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
- NZPA
