Battle lines drawn for Govt, unions

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Faced with increasing resistance to its plans from Māori, the Government will soon find itself fighting on another front with the trade unions.

As the second week of its first 100 day programme starts in Parliament, the Government has two key parts on its agenda before the Christmas break — to axe Fair Pay Agreements and begin work to reinstate the 90-day trial period for all employers.

Fair Pay Agreements allow sector-wide bargaining in an industry and were a key target for both National and Act, who warn they were an attempt to restore the compulsory unionism of the past. FPAs have been secured for a few industries, including early childhood education, commercial cleaners, hospitality staff, security guards and bus drivers, but none have as yet been concluded or enforced.

The 90-day trials were dropped by the previous Labour government — except for employers with 19 or fewer employees — and are a red flag to trade unions who believe they allow unscrupulous employers to take advantage of vulnerable workers.

Right in the firing line for these two controversial issues is the new Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, who is the Act Party’s deputy leader.

Van Velden argues that the two changes will increase certainty for businesses in the field of employment law, and that their repeal is in effect a return to the status quo.

But Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff says this signals the new Government intends to exercise “a sort of free-market deregulation zeal” in workplace relations that is very concerning.

First Union general secretary Dennis Maga believes the repeals will drive wages down and increase unemployment and underemployment. “Putting an extreme libertarian Act Minister in charge of workplace relations is like putting a vampire in charge of the country’s emergency blood supply,” he said in a media release.

That is taking things too far, but the Government and the unions look set for a head-on collision.

This comes at a time when Māori are mobilising strongly against moves by the Government which they say undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and reduce the significance of te reo Māori. Māori King Tūheitia has issued a royal proclamation calling for a national hui.

The country’s biggest iwi Ngāpuhi also received a landmark report from the Waitangi Tribunal on Saturday that recommends all Crown-owned land in Northland be returned to Māori, and for the Crown to enter talks about reworking New Zealand’s constitutional framework.

The House will be sitting in urgency for the next two weeks and some more fiery exchanges seem likely.