Friday, 7 May 2021, 12:24 pm
“Compulsory unionism is undemocratic, will be a
wrecking ball on the economy, and doesn’t solve any
identified problem,” says ACT Leader David
Seymour.
“Today’s proposal is far more radical
than anything the Government has proposed before. It said it
would initially be ‘one or two industries.’ Today’s
proposal would allow any industry to have compulsory
unionism forced on it by one-in-ten workers from day
one.
“You cannot take a relic of the 1970s, dust it
off, and make it stick 50 years on. We will wipe it off the
statute books sooner or later, and the way this Government
Hamish Rutherford: Pay freeze and fair pay agreements; this week was more about unions than workers
7 May, 2021 05:48 AM
4 minutes to read
The announcement of progress towards fair pay agreements by Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood has been celebrated by unions. Photo / Alex Burton
The announcement of progress towards fair pay agreements by Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood has been celebrated by unions. Photo / Alex Burton
OPINION: Fair pay agreements represent a major shift in New Zealand s industrial relations landscape but in terms of having an impact on workers conditions over the next few years, it was not even the biggest
Unions vs businesses: Fair pay agreement news staunchly divides factions
7 May, 2021 04:35 AM
3 minutes to read
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood announced Cabinet s decisions on fair pay agreements, saying legislation could be passed next year. Photo / File
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood announced Cabinet s decisions on fair pay agreements, saying legislation could be passed next year. Photo / File
Jason Walls is a political reporter for the New Zealand Heraldjason.walls@nzme.co.nz@Jasonwalls92
Unions and business groups are vehemently at odds over the Government s major overhaul of New Zealand s employment laws, specifically around fair pay agreements.
Business groups, such as BusinessNZ and the EMA, say fair pay agreements – as proposed by the Government – should be scrapped and have no place in the modern workplace.
But National s workplace relations spokesperson Scott Simpson fears the Labour Government is taking New Zealand back to an era of industrial action in the 1970s, when strikes were at an all-time high. This is compulsory wage controls. It is unionism gone universal, Simpson says. The National Party will repeal these recycled National Awards.
National Awards were based on the principle that basic terms and conditions were best established by the collective workforce. They laid out minimum wages and conditions across industries, with a Court of Arbitration settling disputes.
Strikes were prohibited - as they will be under FPAs - though they often happened anyway, perhaps because arbitration, or settling disputes, was compulsory at the time.
Saturday, 1 May 2021, 12:57 pm
Unions will be rallying in the Octagon, Dunedin, at 12
noon today Saturday 1 May in support of workers out of
work.
The rally is held on May Day, 1 May, the
international day for workers.
Unions Otago convenor
Andrew Tait says Unions Otago is calling for improvements to
benefit levels for unemployed workers.
He says last
year the Salvation Army calculated that benefits in real
terms were worth 25% less than they were in 1991, following
the then National Government’s benefit
cuts.
Successive governments have failed to set
benefits at a liveable level, he says.
Mr Tait says
the $25 per week increase the Labour Government implemented