A radical overhaul of labour laws
The government says its fair pay agreements will stop a 30 year race to the bottom for workers
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, April 7, by Justin Giovannetti. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Ashley Bloomfield resigns; booster eligibility extended; Dunedin council plans to evict protesters; but first, parliament debates fair pay agreements.
The government says the bill has the potential to improve the lives of working New Zealanders. (Image RNZ/123F)
The biggest change to workplaces in a generation.
Nearly a year ago the government unveiled its plan for fair pay agreements. As I wrote at the time, it’s an economy-shaking move that could raise wages, empower trade unions and end precarious work. The agreements will create mandatory, sector-wide collective bargaining. They will likely be one of the most significant and lasting changes by the Ardern government. A bill is now sailing through the Labour-controlled parliament to make the agreements law. With the final shape of what’s to come set, Stuff looks at whether the agreements are fundamentally a good idea.
The impacts of fair pay agreements will be widely felt.
We won’t know what impact the agreements will have on workers, but it’s possible most New Zealanders will eventually be covered by one. There’s nothing in the law that limits it to cleaners, security guards and others in precarious occupations. Once 10% of employees in a proposed sector sign up, an agreement setting minimum pay and conditions becomes mandatory. If employers and unions can’t agree on a deal, the Employment Relations Authority will impose one. Newshub sets up the debate, with some workers enthusiastic for the change, while employers are worried. The Employment and Manufacturers Association has warned it could lead to the return of meal breaks and triple time, both “problematic” perks dropped in the 1990s, it said.
The arguments for and against the agreements.
Business NZ represents over 70,000 businesses across the country. It refused the government’s offer to be the representative for businesses during negotiations in the future. Business NZ’s Kirk Hope told RNZ that he views the agreements as “fundamentally flawed”. The main argument against the agreements is that they are inflexible and a throwback to the last century. Business NZ is also arguing to the International Labour Organization, a UN agency, that the mandatory nature of the agreements makes them unlawful. An alternative system, the group argues, would be setting new minimum standards in jobs with well-documented labour problems. The government’s argument is that the last 30 years of light regulations has been bad for many workers and Labour campaigned vigorously in the last election to introduce the agreements.
Support could be all a question of timing.
It’s difficult in my mind to disentangle fair pay agreements from the government’s other significant labour change, the proposed income insurance scheme. There was a Bulletin about it in February. The two are vastly different ideas, but the players are the same and the point is to make work fairer. Both also suffer from a similar problem: the timing couldn’t be worse. Both will increase costs on employers at a time when inflation is running rampant and consumers can’t handle more expensive shops. The House reported earlier this week that businesses are on edge, with all of that in front of parliament, as well as the Matariki public holiday bill. There’s little support across the aisle for the government’s business agenda. Newshub reports that Act has promised to cancel all of it, while National isn’t too keen.
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Ashley Bloomfield resigns, exodus from public health team.
The director-general of health is taking a well deserved break after seeing the country through two years of pandemic. Ashley Bloomfield is stepping down at the end of July, leaving a health ministry preparing for a year of enormous changes. According to RNZ, Bloomfield said he thought this was a good time to leave, with omicron in retreat. Several hours after his announcement, the country’s top two public health leaders also announced their departures. The NZ Herald reports that Caroline McElnay and Niki Stefanogiannis are leaving this week. While not as well known as Bloomfield, the director of public health and her deputy were instrumental in shaping the country’s Covid response. Their departures leave a massive vacancy in the country’s health team.
Let’s never forget the Ashley Bloomfield music festival PSA.
Booster rates still low as eligibility extended to 16, 17 year olds.
More teenagers can get boosters from today as Medsafe gave provisionally approval for the extended age group. 1News reports that online bookings will only start next Thursday, but walk-ins can start now. With ongoing omicron transmission and the risk of more waves in the coming months, getting boosted remains your best defence. With that in mind, experts told Stuff they were “shocked” by the country’s lagging booster and child vaccination numbers. Just over half of kids have had one dose of the vaccine, while booster rates are at 72% for eligible New Zealanders.
Hong Kong overwhelmed by omicron deaths.
In scenes reminiscent of the first few months of Covid, where emergency services around the world were overwhelmed by deaths, Hong Kong is running out of coffins. Reuters reports of shock in the former British colony as over 8,000 have died during the omicron outbreak. The death wave, unlike anything seen in New Zealand, has been linked to low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly. Vox has written about unfounded fears in China that the vaccine is dangerous. The result has been deadly hesitancy. Lockdowns are now spreading across mainland China. All of Shanghai’s 25 million people are now under lockdown, RNZ reports.
Dunedin council looks at options to remove octagon occupiers.
An occupation at the octagon started on Feb. 11 and Dunedin’s mayor and council have had enough. The Otago Daily Times reports that they are looking at ending the protest, including forcibly removing them. Vaccine pass requirements are over at council facilities and the mayor said the protest had run out of reasons to exist. The protesters say the want all pandemic rules gone and everyone who lost a job to vaccine passes get reinstated and compensated. In Wellington, day five of a fortnight of protests has continued to fizzle with little turnout.
Rotorua’s plan for equal Māori and general wards now at parliament.
The council’s proposal is illegal under the local electoral act, likely violating the one person one vote principle, so Rotorua is asking parliament for an exemption. Council wants to have three Māori seats, three general seats and four seats-at-large. SunLive reports that the act has a formula that limits Māori ward seats based on population sizes. The act doesn’t allow an even split based on the city’s demographics. Tāmati Coffey is sponsoring the bill to give Rotorua an exemption. It’s a complicated proposal that follows a year of debate, Stuff explains.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
Toby Manhire asks what Ashley Bloomfield will do next. Matthew Cunningham reports on the troubling growth of the radical right within the “anti-mandate” movement. Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes writes about how Moana Jackson changed one law student’s life. Josie Adams remembers iPredict, the website where you could cash in on MPs resigning. On First, the Beths’ Liz Stokes remembers her first musical heroes.
Trying what looked like the ‘easiest’ Olympic sport: curling.
Amberleigh Jack writes in Stuff about trying what she thought was a “very shouty version of lawn bowls on ice”. Spoiler: it isn’t. Curling is still played on ice outdoors in New Zealand, when the weather allows it. Otherwise, you need to practice on indoor ice rinks. This story is a great way to start your day and learn about the magnificent sport of curling. I will add that drinking something, anything, after a win or loss is a true requirement of the game. Traditionally, the winners should shout beers for the losers.