Fair Pay Agreements Should Be Terminated

BusinessNZ says significant problems with planned Fair Pay Agreements have not been addressed, and the plan to implement them should be terminated.

The Government today released the details for compulsory, nation-wide pay agreements to be introduced next year, along with financial support for the CTU and BusinessNZ to coordinate them

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope says employers are not interested in compulsory, nation-wide pay agreements, irrespective of any funding support offered.

He said the plan would take away business’ right to a say over wage-setting and would introduce a dangerous system that would lead to labour disputes and strikes.

"There would be nothing "fair" about Fair Pay Agreements," Mr Hope said. "Any pay deals reached wouldn’t be fair because the process is essentially compulsory - employers would be required to agree to what unions wanted, with compulsory arbitration if they didn’t.

"This is against international law, which says collective agreements should always be negotiated voluntarily."

Mr Hope said BusinessNZ had engaged with the Government and unions in good faith in dialogue about the Fair Pay Agreements plan, but the problems raised by BusinessNZ had not been addressed, and business could not support the plan to implement them.

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