Employment Relations (Rest Breaks and Meal Breaks) Amendment Bill
First Reading, Tuesday 27th April 2010
Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Waiariki

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker, kia ora tātau katoa. Nā runga i te hiahia kia kōrerotia tō tātau reo Māori i roto i te Whare nei, kua kawe haerehia tēnei kōrero i roto i te reo Māori.

Ehara i te mea nō ināia tonu nei tēnei momo āhuatanga nō mua noa atu, nō ngā tau kua hipa. I a au e āta rangahau ana i tēnei o ngā pire ka āta kite atu, ā, i te tau 1908, i tū tētahi raruraru nui o roto i a koe pea i Te Wai Pounamu i te takiwā o Te Poutini, i te tāone o Blackball. E ai ki tā wētahi, kāore tētahi o tērā hunga, o tērā tāone, i whakaae kia mutu wawe nei tana kai. I te tekau mā rima meneti i whakaritea mai ai mō te wā tina. Ko te ingoa o te tangata nei ko Hickey.

Ka mutu, nā runga i tana kore whakaae kia mutu tana kai i te wā whakaritea mai ai, ko ia me ōna hoa e ono i panaia i te mahi. Ā, i te kaiwaro tēnei o roto o te tāone o Blackball. I tērā wā ko te kaiwhakahaere o tērā wāhi, i hiahia ia kia whakarahi ake ngā hāora mahi mō te rā, ki te tekau hāora. Nā, nā wai rā, nā wai rā, ā, i pahū mai tērā mea e kīa ana ko te Blackball strike, ā, ka mutu, i puta mai te uniana me tana kore hiahia ki te whaiwhai haere i tērā tikanga, ā, he hiahia kē nō rātau kia waru hāora i te rā mō te wā mahi.

Nā, i haere te take nei ki te kōti, ā, ka mutu, i whainahia ngā kaiwaro nei, ka mutu, kāore ngā tāngata nei i hiahia ki te utu i ngā nama, ā, i haria katoatia wā rātau taputapu i hokona, engari i tōna mutunga mai ka kī mai ngā kaiwaro kia kaua e hoko ngā taputapu e kōrero ake nei. E ai ki taku mōhio e toru ngā marama e pēnei ana te āhuatanga, ā, tōna mutunga mai me kī, i hoki ngā tāngata nei ki roto i wā rātau mahi.

Ā, i pēnei rā taku whakamārama ki a koe, Mr Assistant Speaker i te mea, anei tātau i tēnei wā tonu nei kotahi rau tau mai i tērā wā, ā, e kōrerohia ana tēnei pire, āhua ōrite tōna pūtake, tōna ngako, engari arā anō ētahi paku rerekētanga.

E ai ki tā te pire, me whakarite i ētahi wā whakatā, ētahi wā kai, me te kī anō hoki me whakaaetia ngā wā me te roa o te kai i waenganui i te kaiwhakahaere rānei, te pāhi rānei, te rangatira rānei o te mahi me te kaimahi. Koinei kei te pūtake. Ki te kore, ā, ka mutu, me whiriwhirihia ētahi wā e pai ana ki a rāua mō te whakatā me te kai. Nā, taku mōhio tērā pea ka ohorere ētahi o ngā kaimahi, ngā kaiwhakahaere o ētahi toa, kāore ētahi momo tikanga pēnei i ēnei, e whakahaeretia ana i tēnei wā tonu nei, arā, mō tētahi wā kia kai te tangata, te kaimahi i tāna kai. Nō reira, nā runga i tērā whakaaro, tērā pea e tika ana kia tae mai tētahi ture pēnei i tēnei, me kī, kia whai wāhi ngā tāngata ki ēnei momo tikanga, arā, mō te whakatā, te roa o te whakatā me te kai i wā rātau kai.

Tērā pea i pōhehe ētahi, i reira tonu tēnei momo tikanga i mua i te mea, ko te nuinga o tātau he kapu tī, he kapu kawhe rānei me te miraka. Koinei te āhuatanga o wā tātau mahi, o wā tātau noho i roto i te Whare Pāremata, ka mutu, i roto i ngā toa. Engari, te āhua nei kāore tērā i te tika mō te katoa o Aotearoa.

I a au e āta titiro ana ki tēnei pire i rongo au, tata ki te 93 pai hēneti o ngā kaimahi kei roto, me kī, he kirimana ā-mahi wā rātau, ā, kei roto i ērā kirimana, he wāhi anō rā mō te whakatā, ka mutu, ko te wāhi ki te kai mō te kapu tī rānei. Nō reira tēnei ture e kore e paku pā atu ki tērā, nō reira he mea pai tērā āhuatanga ki a au.

Ā, i a au e rangahau ana, ka kite atu anō hoki, e tata ki te 18 pai hēneti o ngā kaimahi o Aotearoa, kei roto i ngā uniana i tēnei wā tonu nei. Nō reira, te āhua nei ko te nuinga o te hunga kāore i te tino whai i te uniana, ana ko tērā te hunga kei roto i ngā mahi pēnei i te mahi hōtērā, te mahi hoko kai, tērā momo āhuatanga, nā runga pea i te āhuatanga o te hunga taiohi, o te hunga rangatahi kei roto i tērā momo mahi.

Kāti, i roto i tēnei ao hurihuri he pai tonu kia pēnei tonu tātau, kia whai wāhi anō rā ki te whakatā me te kai. He mea pai kia whakaora i te tangata, pēnei i tā Sue Moroney e kōrero nei, kia whai wāhi te tangata ki te whakaora i a ia, whakapiki i tana ora, kia whakahihiko i a ia. Nō reira koia tērā te painga o tēnei momo pire.

Ka mutu, i a tātau e wetewete nei i tēnei pire, ko te mate kē, ana kei te pūtake o tana kōrero anō hoki, me whakaae ngā mea e rua, te kaimahi me te rangatira, arā, te pāhi o te mahi. Ki te kore e rāua tahi e whakaae ki te hāora, ki te roa rānei o te whakatā, ā, he raruraru kei te haere, he raruraru kei te haere. Nō reira, ki te kore rātau e whakaae, ki te roa rānei, kia pēnei rawa tana whakatā, ā, ka mutu, te tikanga ka waiho ake mā te rangatira, mā te pāhi rānei e whakatau. Anei, anei te roa, anei ngā hāora. Nō reira, tērā pea ka raruraru i reira, ka raruraru i reira.

Ka mutu, tērā pea ko te raru nui kei roto i tēnei kupu i te reo Pākehā, ana ko te “reasonableness” i te mea, kei a Stevie Chadwick te tikanga o tōna “reasonable”,
kei a Te Ururoa Flavell te tikanga o tōku “reasonable”. He rerekē anō rā te tikanga o tēnei kupu “reasonable”. Nō reira koinei tētahi whakatūpato i roto i tēnei pire i te mea, tērā pea nā runga i te tikanga o tēnei kupu “reasonable”, ka pahū mai, ka raruraru ā te wā pea.

Nō reira, ko te Pāti Māori tēnei e whakaae atu ki te tautoko i te āhuatanga o te tiaki i ngā kaimahi, ā, ka mutu, me whakarite āhuatanga i te wāhi mahi kia noho hauora, kia noho ora ai te tangata i roto i ngā mahi katoa, kia kore ai a ia e raruraru nā runga i te āhuatanga o ngā raru o ngā pēhitanga kei runga i a ia. Ka mutu, arā nō nei ētahi mea me kaua e waiho kia iri hei mea tautohetohe i waenganui i te pāhi me te rangatira o te mahi. Nō reira, ko te pātai nui ki a mātau, ko tērā e pā ana ki te nohonga o te kaimahi me te rangatira, ko te chief rānei, ko te pāhi rānei o te mahi, nā runga i te tikanga o tērā kupu “reasonable”.

Kāti, me kī ka waihotia ake tēnei hei mea tautoko mā te Pāti Māori i tōna pānuitanga tuatahi, ā, kia kite mai ai i te āhuatanga o ngā kōrero ka tae mai ki te komiti whāiti. Ka mutu tērā, ana ka āta titiro anō rā te Pāti Māori ki te hōhonutanga o ngā kōrero ka puta, ka whakatauhia ā muri ake i tērā. Nō reira, nā runga i tērā kōrerokia ora tātau.

[Greetings to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to us all. Because of the desire for the Māori language to be heard in the House, this speech will be delivered in Māori.

It is not as though the issue around meal breaks is a current one, but it has been around for a long time. As I researched this bill carefully among others, I discovered that a huge problem erupted on the West Coast of the South Island in the town of Blackball in 1908. According to some, a local of that town refused to end his meal quickly in the stipulated time of 15 minutes for lunch. Hickey was this person’s name. Because he refused to end his meal in the allocated time, he and six of his workmates were fired. This took place at the Blackball mine.

The manager of that mine at the time wanted to increase the working day to 10 hours. Eventually, the legendary Blackball strike broke out, when the union became involved because it did not want the working hours increased to 10 hours but kept at 8 hours. This matter was taken to court and the miners were fined. However, the miners refused to pay, and their possessions were seized and auctioned to raise the money to pay the fine.

The miners told everyone not to buy the auctioned goods. As I understand it, this went on for 3 months, until the men were finally reinstated.

I have gone about it this way, Mr Assistant Speaker, because here we are again, 100 years from that incident, debating this bill today, and although the reason is quite different, there might be only some minor differences.

The bill states that the duration of rest breaks and meal breaks should be agreed upon between the employer, boss, or chief, and the employee. This is the nub. If this does not occur, the two must negotiate the duration of the breaks acceptable to both. I think employers and shop managers will be surprised that laws were not already in place around the provision of meal breaks for workers. So perhaps it is time that a law like this is introduced that addresses the duration of rest breaks and meal breaks, although one would think it would be a case of basic rights, like providing tea, coffee, and milk.

That is the situation here in Parliament in regard to our work and environment. It is like that in shops, as well. But that does not seem to apply to most of New Zealand.

In the process of examining this bill, I found out that nearly 93 percent of active collective agreements already provide rest breaks and meal breaks, and because this bill will not affect that at all, it is all good to me. During my research, however, I also found out that at the moment, nearly 18 percent of workers in New Zealand belong to trade unions. So it appears that the majority of those not in unions, and more likely to be affected, working in jobs such as those in the hospitality industry, hotels, fast-food outlets, and so on, are young workers.

In this evolving world, we would expect employers to be already providing adequate breaks. It is beneficial that one has a chance to re-energise, as Sue Moroney suggested, to re-hydrate, restore energy, and health levels and focus as well. So that is a positive in this bill.

However, while we debate this bill, there is an aspect that the member has identified as being crucial to this bill, and that is the employer and the employee. Both the employer or the boss, and the worker, must agree. If neither of those two agree to the duration of the rest, we have a real, big, enduring problem on our hands. If there is no agreement, that would mean that it would be left to the employer or the boss to make the decision—here, whether one likes it or not, is the duration. So right there, and for sure, will be a stalemate.

In addition, there is also a problem perhaps with the English word “reasonableness”, because Steve Chadwick has her own idea what “reasonable” means to her, and I, Te Ururoa Flavell, have my own idea what that word means to me. The word “reasonable” has many interpretations. So just a cautionary word that having this word “reasonable” in the bill may possibly create problems in the future.

Therefore, the Māori Party supports the right of workers to be treated fairly and with dignity, and to have a safe and healthy workplace and not to be burdened by any stress. Further to that, discontent and disagreement between an employee and employer, chief, or boss, is not the desired outcome from that word “reasonable”.

Finally, leave that point there; the Māori Party supports this bill at its first reading, and looks forward to seeing the kinds of submissions that come to select committee. When that has been done, the Māori Party will examine the extent of the reports made and then make a determination. On that note, greetings to us all.]

ENDS

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