What will Labour’s industrial relations policy mean for businesses

I'm amazed there has been almost zero media coverage of Labour's radical . It turns the clock back to the 1970s with de facto and the like. A guest poster covered it here.

In summary Labour will do the following:

  • Entire industries will be selected to have a national award imposed on them. The industry will have no ability to say no to it, and neither will any individual employer.
  • “Minimum” standards will be set governing everything from pay rates to overtime to holidays to standard hours of work.
  • A small employer in Invercargill will be forced to pay the same wages and conditions as a large multinational employer based in .
  • Unions will be able to now initiate strikes in advance of an employer's offer
  • Employers will now have an obligation to conclude a collective agreement. That means that so long as the union holds firm, the employer will be forced to agree to their terms eventually.
  • Unions will gain the right to enter any workplace in New Zealand to sign up members
  • New employment agreements will have automatic union membership as part of them
  • Non union members will be forced to pay fees to a union, if the union considers they get benefits from them
  • Contractors will be made into employees
  • Casual employment contracts will be made very difficult
  • will be abolished so it will be illegal to pay a 16 year old less than $33,000 a year!
  • Even employers with just one staff member will be forced to have an elected and safety rep
  • Any employer that the unions don't like will be banned from any Government contract work
  • Require all Government contractors to pay 16 year olds over $40,000 a year

You can see why the unions are pouring so much money into Labour. And if they get a Labour Government you can be sure they will have even more money to spend on helping Labour stay in power.

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