Source: PSA
- Fire at will to become new reality for workers
The Government’s all out assault on the rights of working New Zealanders has been laid bare by the report back today on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill.
“The Bill strips away fundamental protections that have been the bedrock of fair employment for twenty-five years,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“It is a radical change in workplaces up and down New Zealand – it’s plain and simple a power grab by employers at the expense of workers.
“We heard all this rubbish about ‘labour market flexibility’ in the 1990s under the Employment Contracts Act. It drove down wages, eroded conditions, and made working New Zealanders worse off and now the Government is dragging us back to those dark days.
“This Bill effectively guts the personal grievance system and makes fire-at-will a reality for every worker in this country.”
Workers who want to take a personal grievance will lose the right to compensation if they contributed in any way to the situation – even a minor contribution means no remedy at all and employers will have no trouble finding a contribution to avoid paying out a worker.
Any worker earning over $200,000 loses the right to challenge an unjustified dismissal.
“The personal grievance system exists to protect workers from unfair treatment and hold employers accountable. It shouldn’t matter how much you are paid. It’s a fundamental right. This Bill tears that protection to shreds,” said FItzsimons.
“This puts New Zealand in the same tent as countries like the United States where workers can be fired without cause and have no right of redress.”
The 30-day rule is also being scrapped, meaning new workers will no longer automatically benefit from hard-won collective agreement terms while they decide whether to join the union or not.
“This is a direct attack on union membership and collective strength and an attempt to break unions and impose 90 day trials on workers.”
The Bill allows employers to decide a worker is a contractor, stripping them of sick leave, annual leave, and all statutory protections – with no recourse to challenge that decision.
“This Government is now letting Uber write laws for all New Zealanders.
“Workers can have all their rights stripped away by their employer’s say-so. It’s unconscionable.
“Working New Zealanders deserve better than a Government that treats them as disposable and strips away their basic rights at work.
