Select committee fails health sector over employment bill

MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,
WEDNESDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2013

“Select committee fails health sector over punitive employment rights bill”

“The Parliamentary select committee has failed the health sector over the punitive employment rights Bill that it has been considering,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. Mr Powell was responding to the report back from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on the Employment Relations Bill.

“The select committee has abrogated its responsibility by failing to remove the serious threats to the health sector that are contained in the Bill.”

“These threats include removing the responsibility to conclude a collective agreement negotiation; removing the protection for new appointees to be covered by the terms of an applicable collective agreement; and allowing employers to opt out of a multi-employer collective agreement (such as the one covering senior doctors employed by district health boards).”

“These important employment rights have helped contribute significantly to relatively stable collective agreement negotiations in the public health system and now the government and select committee want to change it. What irresponsible madness!”

“The Government’s bill amending employment law incentivises adversarial employment relations in the health sector and sadly the select committee is comfortable with this.

ENDS

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