“Business NZ’s refusal to back Labour’s so-called Fair Pay Agreements should be a wake up call to the Government- it’s time to drop the damaging policy,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Even the name Fair Pay Agreement is totally dishonest. People are forced into a contract they didn’t agree to, whether it’s fair or not, and analysis shows it will reduce productivity and therefore pay over time.

“With debt, prices, and interest rates all going up, the last thing New Zealand needs is Labour jamming up the workplace with its ideological fantasies. It should just drop it because next year is going to be hard enough for New Zealanders recovering from the Government’s COVID response.

“Compulsory unionism is undemocratic, it will be a wrecking ball on the economy, and doesn’t solve any identified problem.

“Where the Government previously said that FPA’s would involve just one or two industries, its current plans “would allow any industry to have compulsory unionism forced on it by one-in-ten workers from day one.

“You cannot take a relic of the 1890s, dust it off, and make it stick 50 years on. We will wipe it off the statute books sooner or later, and the way this Government is abusing its power, it is starting to look like sooner.

“The way that Business New Zealand were press ganged into being a negotiator shows how the Fair Pay Agreements would press gang all workers, pulling out was its only option.

“Things are only going to get worse for the Government from here, it’s been free falling in the polls for months and it will see more of this open defiance as a result.

“I have no doubt that these agreements will lead to workplace bullying. Union thugs are the worst kind of thugs.

“Fair Pay Agreements only need 10 percent of workers to come into effect and if they’re voted down, they’ll still be imposed. On that membership drive, and on agreement votes, there will be bullying. Why would you introduce a law where one person’s pay and conditions can depend on another person’s vote?

“ACT commends Business NZ for standing up to the Government. It’s time Labour listened and dropped this harmful policy.”

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