15 June 2004

Pull Your Head In, EMA

The lobby group, the Employers and Manufacturers Association, needs to pull its head in and let any issues with the Holidays Act be properly worked through, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

The EMA claimed it had been insulted by a request from the Minister of Labour for evidence that large numbers of workers were “throwing sickies” since the new Holidays Act came into force, entitling them to penal rates for sick leave taken on public holidays.

The association needed to back off and let an agreed group of representatives from the Department of Labour, Business NZ and the CTU look at ways to deal with any problems in the Act, Ross Wilson said.

“The EMA is showing bizarre behaviour motivated by politics and an apparent desire to be constantly in the media,” he said.

“The Minister is entitled to ask for evidence of sick pay abuse – and the EMA should be prepared to back its claims if they have any substance.”

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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