The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is dismayed that Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden has launched another attack on workers’ rights by removing employment protections for workers when they start in a new role.

These protections include being provided information about the role and function of unions and that, for the first 30 days, new employees must be employed on the same (or better) terms with any onsite collective agreement while they decide whether to join a union.

“In yet another announcement from Brooke van Velden, workers’ rights are being eroded and unions undermined,” said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff.

“Currently workers in a new role have protection for 30 days, to weigh their options and settle in without being disadvantaged. The Minister clearly wants to disrupt this period and encourage employers to create division among workers - between those who have a union agreement and those who don’t.

“Make no mistake, this is a deliberate attempt to undermine the role of unions in workplaces and prevent working people from securing good pay and conditions when they take on a job in a new workplace.

“When workers start a new job, they are in a vulnerable position and can’t be expected to assert their rights in terms of trade union coverage.

“The Minister has no experience of unions or collective bargaining, and she refuses to engage with unions to understand the issues. In less than two years in the role, she already has the worst record in the portfolio in decades.

“Workers are sick and tired of this Government and their continued disdain for ordinary people who work hard every day to keep this country running.

“Across the country workers are organising to stand together and fight back against this Government, which is actively hostile to their interests,” said Wagstaff.

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