Source: Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is urging all political parties to vote against Brooke van Velden’s new Employment Relations Amendment Bill, as it will severely undermine workers’ rights.
“This new Bill will legislate many of the attacks on workers’ rights signalled by Brooke van Velden, fundamentally undermining the rights of working people in New Zealand’s employment relations system,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.
“Following instruction from Uber’s corporate lobbyists, the Minister is wanting to prevent some of the most vulnerable and casualised workers who have been misclassified as contractors from being able to access their legal rights by taking cases to court. Government should not be blocking workers from court because corporates may not like the outcome.
“The personal grievance changes are also trying to tie the courts hands and prevent them from establishing justice for workers. They entrench power imbalances and leave workers facing unjustified dismissal with no statutory protection.
“These changes threaten every single worker in Aotearoa. The right to seek remedies for unjustifiable and unlawful dismissal is a basic employment right and should not be diluted.
“This Bill also legislates to remove the 30-day rule, which is another attempt undermine unions and protections that unions bring their members. Currently workers in a new role have the protection of any collective agreement in place for 30 days. Removing the rule will encourage employers to exploit workers when they are at their most vulnerable, and to lead a race to the bottom for wages and conditions.
“The Bill heightens worker vulnerability to unjustifiable dismissal, shields employers from the consequences of mistreating workers, and drives people into insecure work. This is in the context of government policy that has caused largescale unemployment.
“Parties across Parliament should vote down this radically unjust law and instead support working people and their families,” said Wagstaff.
