13 September 2004

Wide Support Expected for ERA Report

The select committee report on the amendments to the Employment Relations Act is expected to reflect wide consensus over proposals which “fine-tune” the law, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

The report on the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill is to be tabled in Parliament this afternoon.

“There has been extensive consultation with the CTU and Business NZ and a fairly broad consensus has emerged around a substantial number of the core amendments,” Ross Wilson said.

“The CTU is disappointed that the Bill will not significantly strengthen multi-employer bargaining, but welcomes the move to allow arrangements between employers and unions to address free-loading.”

Such an amendment would reverse the effect of the recent Court of Appeal decision in the Fonterra/Dairy Workers Union case, Ross Wilson said. It would also reflect international law under ILO conventions.

“Overall the CTU looks forward to the amended Employment Relations Act coming into effect in December.

“It will make a real difference to many groups of workers who can’t get a fair go in bargaining.”

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.

CONTACT NEW ZEALAND COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS

• Website - union.org.nz/
• Phone - +64 4 385 1334
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• Physical Address - Level 7, West Block, Education House, 178 Willis St, Wellington.

• Media Contact - huiaw@nzctu.org.nz
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• Postal Address - PO Box 6645, Marion Square, Wellington 6141.

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>