MEDIA RELEASE
26 February 2004

Brash Attacks Workers in Political Point-Scoring

National Party leader Don Brash is using the proposed new labour law to attack unions and workers and score political points, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

“Brash is playing up to his friends in the business lobby groups with his malicious comments over the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill,” he said. “He is supporting the campaign of misinformation and scaremongering that has been these groups’ only response to the Bill.”

The Bill amends the Employment Relations Act to ensure it achieves what it sets out to do, which is to transfer some power back to employees to get fair outcomes at work by promoting collective bargaining, as international law requires.

“These amendments are required to address the bad-faith behaviour of those employers who are still stuck in the Employment Contracts Act mentality of the 1990’s,” Ross Wilson said.

“The Bill protects workers who choose to be in a union and engage in collective bargaining,” he said. “It also ensures that employers negotiate properly with workers who have individual agreements.”

The Bill recognises that employees are a major resource to any business owner.

The Employment Relations Law Reform Bill sets out a modern employment law framework that is fundamental to sustainable economic growth, Ross Wilson said.

ENDS

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New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

Te Kauae Kaimahi

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.

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