Workplace shake-up looms
Contentious workplace laws setting minimum terms and conditions of employment for workers in the same industry or occupation have been thrust back onto the political agenda.
The changes could herald the biggest shake-up in industrial relations in years.
Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said a 10-person working group led by former National Party prime minister Jim Bolger would report back by the end of the year on the design of fair pay agreements.
The Government says fair pay agreements will lift pay and conditions by preventing a ‘‘race to the bottom’’ by stopping employers from competing with each other by lowering wages.
But employers have been nervous about their impact on business, and the uncertainty has contributed to the slump in business confidence since the election.
Lees-Galloway said many workers had not shared in the growth in the economy over the past 30 years and the result was a ‘‘hollowing out’’ of wages for middle-income earners.
Fair pay agreements would work by requiring agreement between unions and employers on minimum terms and conditions of employment for all workers in an entire industry or occupation – which employers say is effectively a return to centralised bargaining.
Fair pay agreements were the cornerstone of Labour’s industrial relations policy in the leadup to the last election, but the Government has moved slowly for fear of spooking business.
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the announcement would help rebuild ‘‘a decent quality of life for working Kiwis’’.
The current system was market-driven and pushed wages down, Wagstaff said.
‘‘We are losing our best homegrown New Zealand talent to better organised countries with regulated industries,’’ Wagstaff said.
‘‘Fair pay agreements put New Zealanders first and show our real competitive advantages are the Kiwi values of dignity, opportunity and respect.’’
Business NZ spokesman John Milford said business would participate constructively in the group, but made no promises in support beyond that.
‘‘What I would say is that the Business NZ family, and members we represent, want to look to the future as well.’’
The business community had significant concerns, particularly centred around flexibility for employers, costs related to fair pay agreements and industrial harmony.
‘‘We’re going in with concerns but having said that, we’re pleased to be part of the solution and we’re pleased to be around the table.
‘‘If we don’t put up our concerns there, then we can’t stand on the outside and lob hand grenades in,’’ Milford said.
‘‘At the end of the day, we have members who have a particular point of view on the past and they also think that that’s going to be reflected in the future going forward. That may be the case; I would hope seriously not.
‘‘That what we’re actually talking about is new mechanisms here, a new way forward for collaboration and co-operation between employees and employers.’’
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