Workers First said that the passage of the Employment
Relations Amendment Bill today was the “darkest day in
decades” for New Zealand workers’ rights and that every
person, whether an employee or contractor, should be deeply
concerned for their future job security and
prosperity.
Dennis Maga, Workers First General
Secretary, said that while it was obvious that the governing
ACT Party and National Party intended to change New Zealand
law to protect the “exploitative” business model of
employers like Uber, NZ First had “sold out” workers despite
meeting with several unions over the last few months and
claiming their intention to amend the Bill during its
Committee Stage. Instead, NZ First offered no amendments
during the final Parliamentary opportunity to develop the
legislation and rejected every Opposition attempt to limit
the Bill’s “catastrophic” scope.
“This
‘fire-at-will’ Bill not only protects contractor
misclassification by enshrining the process in law, but it
decimates the right to workplace justice and enables
employers to erase the rights workers fought for decades to
win,” said Mr Maga.
“This is a shameful day for
Aotearoa and an international embarrassment. While other
nations stood up to international corporates like Uber and
required them to adapt to sovereign law, our Government has
laid out the red carpet for them to redesign our employment
system in their favour.”
“It’s no surprise to see
the ACT Party advance legislation as the parliamentary wing
of Uber’s business model, but NZ First’s decision to
back the Bill is a stark act of hypocrisy.”
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“They are
a party that pretends to care about sovereignty but have
turned their backs on New Zealanders today, and workers will
not forget it.”
Mr Maga said that the passage of the
Bill did not rule out the pursuit of backpay and lost
entitlements for the misclassification of Uber drivers,
which last year’s judgement from the Supreme Court allowed
for. Over 1,500 financial claims for Uber drivers have
already been lodged by Workers First Union, and they would
proceed despite the law change.
Other elements of the
Bill that disadvantage workers included the end of the
“30-day rule” that protected new employees under an existing
Collective Agreement, and changes to the Personal Grievance
process that allowed employers to unilaterally define
“serious misconduct” and deny workers the right to
compensation or reinstatement if they are deemed to have
“contributed” to the situation.
“The Bill is an
omnibus of gifts to exploitative employers and a firm
admission that this Government does not care about ordinary
New Zealand workers,” said Mr Maga.
“It will worsen
the cost-of-living crisis, exacerbate the exodus of New
Zealand workers to Australia, and encourage more predation
on the working class by big business without
redress.”
Ultimately, Mr Maga said the legislation
created the conditions for New Zealand employers to pursue
mass redundancies of employees before attempting to
‘re-hire’ them under the new category of a ‘specified
contractor’, lacking the protections of employment like a
minimum wage, holiday pay, sick and annual leave, and the
right to join a union.
“If you think this Bill
doesn’t apply to you now, it may well in the future,” said
Mr
Maga.
