The Prime Minister is misleading New Zealanders in saying that employees who don't wish to join a union can still negotiate their own collective agreement, National's Industrial Relations spokesperson Max Bradford said today.

"The Employment Relations Bill expressly prevents non-union employees negotiating collective agreements.

"In Australia both the Liberals and Labour support the notion that non-union employees can negotiate together to agree to an enforceable collective agreement.

"The Employment Relations Bill puts a very powerful weapon in the hands of unions to force employers and their workforce into industry collective agreements.

"The fact is that all it takes is one employee who wants to be party to a multi-employer contract to kick start a process where unions can use strikes against that business. This is absurd.

"The Prime Minister should get a better understanding of this backward looking legislation and the implications for both employers and employees before she says it can do things that it simply can't," Mr Bradford said.

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