COMMENT: Here's one of your bigger political ironies.
The committee looking into fair pay agreements has come back to the Government with their recommendations - this is a major upheaval to the New Zealand workplace. It is a rocket fuelled boost for the power of the unions, and will ultimately damage the Government in terms of workplace relations, growth, and electoral support.
But, for now, they're into it like a robber's dog. This is the Labour Party paying back the labour unions for their support.
There are a number of recommendations to be deeply worried about, but right near or at the top is the end of individual contracts. Individual contracts are the contracts most of us are on. When the Employment Contracts Act came along under the 1990-99 Bolger government it revolutionised the workforce.
People were given a choice: back yourself, or stick with collective deals negotiated on your behalf by unions. Most chose to back themselves.
Bill Birch was the key driver of the Employment Contracts Act. His Prime Minister, and here comes the irony, was the same bloke who is now the head of the Fair Pay Committee making these retrospective and Orwellian recommendations.