Government fails to listen on employment law changes

The Government has completely ignored the voices of thousands of New Zealanders who made submissions and took to the streets to oppose the changes to the Employment Relations and Holidays Acts, says the CTU.

The Government Majority on the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee has published its reports on the two amendment bills, showing no significant changes to the plans to remove appeal rights from all employees in their first 90 days, restrict union access to workplaces, allow employers to demand a medical certificate for a single day’s absence, and encourage the sale of the fourth week’s annual leave.

“It seems that this Government is only prepared to listen to business when it comes to changing employment law,” said CTU President Helen Kelly. “It is even prepared to bend over at the whim of an overseas corporation and rush through hasty law changes to remove work rights. But it is not prepared to listen to the thousands of New Zealand workers whose rights are being diminished by these two bills.”

“More than 8,000 people took the trouble to register their opposition to these unfair and unnecessary changes by making a submission to the Select Committee, and an estimated 22,000 marched on October 20 for the same reason. The vast majority of submissions pointed out that the effect of the changes will be to reduce productivity, breed disharmony and mistrust in the workplace, and depress wage growth and the country’s ability to even keep pace with Australian salaries.”

“Workers have suffered the brunt of this recession and now the Government members of the select committee have endorsed a wholesale removal of some of the most fundamental rights. Working people will be asking what they have done to deserve this.”

ENDS

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