Rex Elliott Jones (born 1951) is a New Zealand trade unionist.

Biography

Jones was born in 1951 to Kieth Elliott and Gwendoline Sylvia Jones. He lived in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Aucklan ...

, Auckland and became a union delegate in 1969. In 1984 was the National Secretary of the

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) was the largest private sector trade union in New Zealand. It was formed in 1996 by the merger of the Engineers' Union (EU), the Printing, Packaging and Manufacturing Union (PPMU), and th ...

(EPMU), a position he held for 16 years. Also a member of the Federation of Labour and Council of Trade Union Executives. Jones labelled his time as National Secretary as "turbulent". He headed the union through the

Rogernomics In February 1985, journalists at the ''New Zealand Listener'' coined the term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics" (by analogy with "Reaganomics"), to describe the neoliberal economic policies followed by Roger Douglas. Douglas ...

policies of market liberalisation which caused severe workplace displacements from 1984 to 1990 and then the Bolger-Birch years of the Employment Contracts Act, 1991 which saw drastic reductions in union membership. He was succeeded by the assistant national secretary Andrew Little. As the EPMU was an affiliated union to the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers desc ...

he was also involved with the party. He was President of the Labour Party from 1987 until 1988 when he declined to stand for re-election. Little, his successor as EPMU National Secretary, would likewise become Labour Party President. At his retirement from the role

Margaret Wilson Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth ...

, the Minister of Labour stated that "...Jones has made an outstanding contribution to unionism, to the Labour Movement and to industry in New Zealand." After leaving the EPMU Jones was appointed as a representatives member to Industry New Zealand, a group established by the government to consider projects and activities for government assistance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rex 1951 births Living people New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand Labour Party politicians