20 December

“This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are not derived from the text, the intention of the parties or, the historical context in which the document was signed. It represents a direct attack on the legitimate meaning of Te Tiriti to undermine Māori rights,” said Acting NZCTU President Rachel Mackintosh.

“Our recommendation is that the Government completely abandon this Bill and make no further attempts to distort the genuine principles of Te Tiriti or to remove references to the Te Tiriti principles in legislation.

“From restricting the rights of unions to organise to attacking tino rangatiratanga, this Government has proven itself an enemy of collective rights and collective power.

“Just as workers are weakened when their collective strength is undermined, Māori face the risk of losing power and authority if their collective rights are stripped from them.

“This Bill has no place in a modern democracy. It represents backward colonial baggage that should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

“The NZCTU carries a long tradition of representing Māori workers and standing in solidarity with Māori. The struggle for workers’ rights and the struggle for tino rangatiratanga are inextricably linked. Both struggles stand in solidarity against the greed and ignorance of the powerful and claim for ordinary people what they justly deserve.

“The union movement represents more than 60,000 Māori workers, and we stand in solidarity with the tino rangatiratanga movement in the face of yet another attempt to undermine the collective strength of Tangata Whenua and working people,” said Mackintosh.

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