Employers’ Federation Plea To Government Likely To Go Unheard

The call today from Anne Knowles of the Employers Federation for the Government to “repair the damage from the lowest level of business confidence in sixteen years” by making a few strategic changes to the Employment Relations Bill is most unlikely to be listened to, said National’s associate industrial relations spokesperson Gerry Brownlee.

“Anne Knowles acknowledged the Government has signalled a number of changes to the bill but correctly points out that the significant extra authority given to unions is unlikely to be removed from the bill finally presented to the House late next week.

“The National opposition will introduce amendments to the bill to try to implement the strategic changes that Ms Knowles suggests. We want to minimise the prospect for multi-employer contracts. We also want the legislation to prevent multi-employer strikes. We will resist any attempts by the Green Party to legislate for strikes in support of social and environmental causes as a cost of their vote on the bill.

“Sadly, it is highly unlikely the Government will support these moves and the dire warnings of Ms Knowles will go unheeded. For a Government claiming to be committed to increasing the number of jobs in the economy, Labour and the Alliance are about as close to their ambition as Manuel in Fawlty Towers is to being a top-class waiter, ” Mr Brownlee said.

ENDS

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