Katherine Rich National List MP
Unions Apply Snide Double Standards To Top Sportspeople.

Select committee hearings on the Employment Relations Bill are proving that the "I'm All Right Jack" approach of cloth-cap unionists is alive and well, according to National List MP Katherine Rich.

At a hearing in Wellington today (Tuesday) the General Secretary of the Manufacturing and Construction Workers Union, Graeme Clarke, showed he has no empathy or compassion for people who aren't dues-paying members of his union.

Mr Clarke used All Black captain Taine Randell as an example of someone who is presently an independent contractor who should become an employee under the Employment Relations Act.

Mr Clarke said if he (Taine Randell) doesn't perform, 'sack him'.

"I doubt this union bigwig would be so accepting if one of his members, a construction worker say, was being sacked for an alleged failure to perform their duties," Katherine Rich says.

"It demonstrates how significant a role the politics of envy plays for old-style unionists.

"That sort of parochial small-mindedness is what will see unions misusing their powers if the Government's flawed legislation goes through.

"As long as their workers are extracting the most money possible unions won't give two hoots about the needs and rights of the public or other unions", Ms Rich says.

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