No applause for bad reform

The government worked hard at peddling the idea that its last-minute changes to the Employment Relations Amendment law have taken the sting out of it. That’s just not true.

The best that could be said is that there were some positive changes to a bad law that empowers the unions and robs workplaces of the flexibility they need to compete in a modern, rapidly changing global marketplace.

Even though 83 per cent of workers in New Zealand aren’t members of a union, the union movement will be coming to a workplace near you, recruiting and fomenting dissent. This is payback for Labour’s union affiliates.

First some perspective. New Zealand’s unemployment rate is 3.9 per cent, well below the OECD average of 5.2 per cent. We have one of the highest rates of employment in the world, and a lot of businesses struggle to find workers. We import workers. Under nine years of National government, the average wage grew by $13,000, twice the rate of inflation. Under this government the trend has reversed.

So what is the government trying to fix? Union membership for one. The unions have been haemorrhaging members for decades, but they remain one of the pillars of the Labour Party. And this law is a gift for the unions. Their officials now have unrestricted access, without notice, to many workplaces. Once inside, they can dangle new statutory protections for union members that non-members won’t share. Their recruitment drive will be on the employer’s time and dime.

The significance of taking industrial relations back to the 1970s may be lost on younger New Zealanders. They may not remember that what used to be Wellington’s BNZ Centre was designed in the 1960s but not finished until the 1980s, because the boilermakers’ union took control of the site. Younger Kiwis may not recall the general strike of 1979.

New Zealand has come such a long way since then, and we have much to be proud of as a modern, independent nation. But the Labourled government has persisted with employment law changes that will hurt our economy, our businesses and our workers. It forces extra costs on business and allows pay rates to be settled elsewhere.

It’s no surprise that union officials have been boasting that 2019 will be a big year for strikes, even though 2018 has seen the most strikes in three decades. Ordinary Kiwis end up paying the price for disruptions. Families, commuters and people using health and justice services are among those being disrupted. It adds to household costs. Do we really want more of it?

Under the legislation this law replaced, 245,000 jobs were created in the past two years — an extra five per cent of Kiwis in work.

A good industrial relations framework and a flexible labour market are critical to a strong and growing economy that creates jobs and nurtures communities. A future National-led government will repeal this attempt to take us back to 1970s-style adversarial union activity.

"So what is the government trying to fix? Union membership for one. The unions have been haemorrhaging members for decades, but they remain one of the pillars of the Labour Party. "