When the National Party talks about Planet Labour, they think they are being very funny. Actually, I believe they’re the ones living on another planet, and it’s certainly not Planet Reality.
I just met a couple of great women who know Planet Reality. They are caregivers in an aged care facility, which includes a dementia unit, some with years of service. Most of them are on minimum wage.
They and their fellow workers were on strike three days last week to get a collective agreement. They haven’t had one since the Home was sold by the Baptists to a private owner in 1997.
They want a pay scale that recognises their experience, skill and service, that isn’t dependent on minimum wage movements or the will of the boss. They want a way to ensure that taxpayer funded increases are passed onto the workers when they are intended to be.
They’ve been bargaining with their employer since last October. They’ve been in mediated bargaining since February. They’ve done everything they can under the law to get their employer to agree to a new agreement and they will do more – at least while they still can.
The government’s going to change the law so employers don’t have to keep bargaining. When they’ve had enough, they can say, that’s it, had enough, bargaining over. Bad luck. Back onto your individual contracts where you belong.
Minister Wilkinson tries to soft soap this by saying this change will return the law to how it was under Labour until 2004. But the law was changed because some employers were “surface bargaining” – going through the motions until they could pull the plug by saying bargaining was concluded.
I know this doesn’t mean much to a lot of people. It certainly means nothing to those who don’t understand the realities of low wage workers and how hard it is to get a collective agreement settled when your employer doesn’t want a union on the job, because it’s a whole lot easier to have all the power.
I just hope these women get a deal before Wilkinson manages to get the law changes before parliament.
‘Planet Labour’ sounds OK to me.
If you watched the budget debate John Key raved repeatedly about ‘Planet Labour’ to the sycophantic applause of the disciples. A truely cringeworthy pantomime.
Well JOHN – a lot of us would prefer to be led by
‘Planet Labour’ than a ‘Rogue Trader’!
‘Rogue’ might seem harsh but besides meaning dishonest, it also means mischievous. That debate was absolutely an attempt at mischief, albeit fairly pathetic.
Of course Key fancies himself as a onetime currency trader – His days at the now discredited Merrill Lynch.
BUT NOW of course, he is selling our assets to his supporters (mainly?) for their profit . He even wants the rest of us to subsidise his ‘friends’ to the tune of many millions to encourage the more greedy element from embarassing him by profiting from our stuff even before the next election!
‘Rogue’ surely fits and is an entirely defendible description.
And Yes Darien, the governments attitude to the low paid is miserly, and devious in the extreme.
The Key administration`s once much publicised(now subdued) intention to ‘catch Australia’ only ever really refered to improving the lot of the already well paid (eg tax cuts). The evidence is now clear as we become an increasingly divided nation.
Those decent kiwi followers of Key must by now be finally waking up, surely!
If the law was changed because of “surface bargaining”, what was the original purpose of the provision that allowed “surface bargaining” to occur in the first place?
Trust me, I’m The Al1en. I know all about little planets.
Red skies are always magnificent, above and below.
True story.
A good mate of mine has been working for just over a year on the same three month casual, min 20 hr week, $15ph, no holiday or sick pay joke of an employment contract he signed in july 2011.
Will he challenge his boss? Nope!
Too afraid of losing his $260 take home. (Happy to provide a moderator with details, should my integrity be questioned).
Good post Darien.
Under the Employment Contracts Act collective bargaining was allowed although there was no requirement on an employer to negotiate any of the union claims, no legislated process or no requirement on an employer to turn up to bargaining. The employer could merely say “I prefer individual agreements” and that was the end of it, calling in workers one at a time to go through the charade of individual bargaining.
When the Employment Relations Act was introduced in 2000 the game changed to recognise unions, to set up a process for collective bargaining, to negotiate in good faith and for employers to use reasonable endeavours to negotiate a bargaining process agreement. However, the employer could still say “I prefer individual agreements” and while they could not force individual workers into individual bargaining they could still say to the union “I have listened to what you have to say, have considered it and still prefer individual agreements.”
That is why in 2004 the ERA added another provision which said that it was part of the duty of good faith to conclude a properly-initiated collective agreement unless there were valid reasons why not. It specifically stated that an employer not wanting a collective agreement in their workplace was not a valid reason for not concluding.
Now in 2012 the Government wants to take us back to employers saying (even if 100% of their workforce wants collective bargaining) that I will not conclude a collective agreement because I want to negotiate with you individually for individual agreements.
It is a one way street with this Government. Give greater rights to employers to treat workers like slaves and hopefully they will invest their profits in more slave galleys.
A brighter future – I don’t think so.
What IS Labour’s policy for employment relations and wage setting? Complete overhaul and wage rates set by diktat from Wellington?
What will al1ens mate say, when the minimum wage is set to $25 (why not, they are just rich pricks right?) but his job disappears altogether because that employer can’t afford to pay anything else, so the company folds?
That’s what they mean by Planet Labour. However, I admit Planet Green will be far worse. But what will Planet yellow look like – that’s the real question?
ACT leading government in 2014? That is a bit ambitious, even for you.
John Key and the NZ media are doing one big con job on the New Zealand Public we are being led around by the nose.
The wealth and power is being continually transferred to an elite group of families in New Zealand who work in conjunction with Government to enrich themselves and there associated parties.
Look how easily Bill English sold the GST increases and the tax cuts here in NZ, this certainly did not help those on the fringe of society here in NZ, especially when the wealthy were getting sometimes $1000′s in extra income per week.
It is whats called greasing each others palms.
“What will al1ens mate say, when the minimum wage is set to $25 (why not, they are just rich pricks right?) but his job disappears altogether because that employer can’t afford to pay anything else, so the company folds?”
Factoring sh*t pay into a business plan is morally wrong.
My argument has always been that if a company can’t survive without paying fair wages, then they shouldn’t really be in business, or at least not be responsible for the health and welfare of employees. Let someone else have a go, professionals even.
As for rich pricks, don’t forget greedy and scumsucking