PSA Backs CTU Plan for Labour Law Reform

The Public Service Association has thrown its weight behind a sweeping reform package from the Council of Trade Unions, arguing that economic growth and strong worker protections are not opposites but partners. With Election 2026 approaching, labour relations are shaping up as a defining battleground.

CTU’s New Deal for Workers Gains Union Backing

A better New Zealand is possible if the Government stopped fearing unions and adopted reforms suggested by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions that respected the rights of workers.

The PSA today said it strongly supported the CTU’s New Deal for Workers launched at its annual conference.

Labour Law Changes and Industrial Tensions

“Law changes are desperately needed after the damage inflicted by the most anti-worker government in a generation,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“If the Government really wants a productive, high-wage economy, it needs a positive labour relations environment that respects all workers. The New Deal for Workers provides the blueprint.

“Last week’s strikes by public sector workers showed just how bad labour relations have become. This Government disrespects the very workers who are key to an efficient public sector and critical to a productive economy that meets our challenges.

“There needs to be a fundamental reset.”

The First 100 Days Reform Agenda

The PSA backs the CTU’s three key priorities for the first 100 days of a new government: restoring Fair Pay Agreements, introducing Automatic Union Membership, and preventing sham contracting.

“These reforms will improve workers’ rights, lift labour productivity, and help build a higher wage economy. Countries that perform well economically respect their workers through strong collective bargaining.

“Yet the Government has made it a priority to erode the rights of workers, axing Fair Pay Agreements, reinstating 90-day fire-at-will, scrapping pay equity for women, and suppressing the minimum wage – all while claiming to support economic growth, growth that has failed to materialise.

“The CTU is right to demand political parties commit to these reforms in their first 100 days. It’s time governments stopped fearing workers and worked in partnership with unions to achieve our common goal of raising living standards for all.”

The Role of the PSA in Aotearoa’s Workforce

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

If economic growth is the stated goal, the debate is now about how to achieve it — through deregulation and weakened protections, or through strengthened collective bargaining and worker partnership. Election 2026 may determine which model defines the next decade of New Zealand’s labour market.