Chance to end labour-hire loophole strife
the perspective of a labour-hire worker, whose work can be cancelled at a day’s notice without the right of reply, it is simply a risk that is often not worth taking. Unfortunately there are employers who take advantage of this.
Labour-hire workers also earn less than those they work beside.
The bill will allow labour-hire workers access to the same terms and conditions of employment as those of the other permanent workers on site. This will ensure labour-hire workers are on site for genuine temporary upswings in business and not for the reasons we often see them being hired – that is, to be paid lower and given less-secure work hours (and work, for that matter) than those who are permanently employed.
Recently our union converted a long-term labour-hire employee to permanent status at his job where he had been working for five years for 40 hours per week.
By that stage he had given longer service than many of his permanent colleagues and he also knew a lot more. He had been trained in every department over the years, and, because of his skill and length of service, his colleagues had a lot of respect for him.
But his employer didn’t hold him to the same esteem, paying him less than everyone else and expecting more of him.
When this bill becomes law we will see an end to this kind of exploitation, and will finally close the labour-hire loopholes that are causing so much strife for so many hard-working New Zealanders.
I’m so proud that over the past couple of years our union has been responsible for converting hundreds of labour-hire workers from precarious day-to-day employment to permanent employment.
The impact of being offered permanent employment agreements on these people’s lives is significant; the reliable income and the sense of security these workers have gained has meant a shift from week-to-week survival mode to being able to plan for a future.
We have achieved these results through collective agreement negotiations, drawing on the strength of our membership and the sense of whanau our members have with the labour-hire employees that they work with every day.
Unfortunately, across New Zealand there are still thousands of labour-hire workers who lack the basic rights that most employees enjoy. It’s beyond time to change that.