Cuddles for Bosses vs sticks for workers: This Government is class war
Workers’ rights in for a shake-up in employment relations bill set to be introduced
The Government is set to introduce a bill that would, among other things, prevent high-income earners from claiming unjustified dismissaland reduce personal grievance payouts when an employee is at fault.
The Employment Relations Amendment Bill, due to be introduced to Parliament on Tuesday by Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden, gives effect to a number of ACT–National coalition agreement commitments.
Let us be very clear, the Governments horrendous Employment Relations Amendment Bill IS class war!
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is urging all political parties to vote against Brooke van Velden’s new Employment Relations Amendment Bill, as it will severely undermine workers’ rights.
“This new Bill will legislate many of the attacks on workers’ rights signalled by Brooke van Velden, fundamentally undermining the rights of working people in New Zealand’s employment relations system,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.
“Following instruction from Uber’s corporate lobbyists, the Minister is wanting to prevent some of the most vulnerable and casualised workers who have been misclassified as contractors from being able to access their legal rights by taking cases to court. Government should not be blocking workers from court because corporates may not like the outcome.
“The personal grievance changes are also trying to tie the courts hands and prevent them from establishing justice for workers. They entrench power imbalances and leave workers facing unjustified dismissal with no statutory protection.
“These changes threaten every single worker in Aotearoa. The right to seek remedies for unjustifiable and unlawful dismissal is a basic employment right and should not be diluted.
“This Bill also legislates to remove the 30-day rule, which is another attempt undermine unions and protections that unions bring their members. Currently workers in a new role have the protection of any collective agreement in place for 30 days. Removing the rule will encourage employers to exploit workers when they are at their most vulnerable, and to lead a race to the bottom for wages and conditions.
“The Bill heightens worker vulnerability to unjustifiable dismissal, shields employers from the consequences of mistreating workers, and drives people into insecure work. This is in the context of government policy that has caused largescale unemployment.
“Parties across Parliament should vote down this radically unjust law and instead support working people and their families,” said Wagstaff.
Minister for Handmaidens, Brooke Van Velden has passed anti-Union laws, knee capped pay parity, gutted worksafe and is now coming for our sick days – you gotta hand it to her, Girlfriend just wants it more – this is full scale class war on worker rights as the economy falters!
Allowing big corporations to re-write employment law while punching down on workers is a deplorable state of affairs that will have the act-Right Gooners cheering because you know ‘Jacinda’.
This is political sadism and masochism, sure the alt-Right Gooners are hurting because of this Government’s hard right agenda, but as long as people who like Jacinda are also hurting, the alt-Right Gooners will take their pain because people they politically despise are also hurting.
Brooke says we need to cuddle the bosses because that will lead to a safe worker utopia, but when it comes to the poor we are sanctioning the disabled, solo parents, beneficiaries and state tenants. Why do bosses get cuddles and the poor get sticks?
Hilariously ACC have warned Brooke that by changing focus from enforcement to cuddles it will see more trips, more accidents and actually cost us more in ACC payouts – why cuddle bosses when it will cost us all collectively more?
Half those who die each year on the job are Māori, gutting WorkSafe from police to coach risks robbing those grieving whanau of justice – Māori have simply become the collateral damage again!
The Performance of Manufacturing Index and Performance of Services Index all collapsed last quarter while business confidence has fallen 4 months in a row while the findings of a new IMF report out last week suggests NZ is not just underperforming, but actively backing the wrong kinds of growth by pushing property speculation and low value raw materials.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/regulatory-standards-bill-under-fire-for-limiting-parliaments-sovereignty/BRVC2IX57FBATEJWP2C6EFF5ZM/
I’m keen to hear from any ladies who went to school with Brooke-GPT (St Cuthberts) — was she always a terrible human being, or was she subject, during her formative years, to some Satanic ritual that siphoned away her soul and replaced it with a diseased nugget of concentrated misery and an uncontrollable compulsion to kick working people in the face?