Extra $10m allocated for likely labour laws fallout

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The Government has put aside an extra $10 million to handle industrial strife in anticipation of its new labour law legislation.

A spokesman for Labour Minister Margaret Wilson denied the money was an admission by the Government that there would be more strikes when power shifts back to unions under the Employment Relations Bill.

Most of the money for dispute resolutions - up from $3.1 million to $13m this year - would go to replacing expensive litigation with a free nationwide mediation service for employers and unions, he said.

The spokesman did not know how much of the $13 million would go on "enforcement services" when talks break down, unions take strike action or employers lock out workers.

Alasdair Thompson, head of the Auckland Employers and Manufacturers Association, said the Government was being honest budgeting the money because business knew fallout from the new law would be costly.

Mr Thompson said Margaret Wilson had said repeatedly that the new law would encourage good-faith bargaining and not lead to more strikes "but that was a nonsense."

"We are going to see more industrial relations issues and problems and that will be a cost on the country. [These costs] is a side to the change in the labour laws that nobody wants to speak about."

Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said the extra money was there to save expensive litigation.

"There is a need to make an investment in implementing the purpose of the legislation which is to develop employment relationships on a good-faith basis."

In addition to the extra spending on dispute resolutions, the Government is also putting a further $4.2 million into bodies like the Employment Court and its new Employment Relations Authority; a further $1.4 million for extra policy advice on the labour market and $1 million of new spending for programmes that promote improved employment relationships and good-faith behaviour.

The Treasury has forecast in the budget that wages will grow significantly above the rate of inflation over the next three years.

Budget 2000 feature

Minister's budget statement

Budget speech