Workplace of the Future?
Changes to the Holidays Act and Employment Relations are not only unjustified, unbalanced and unfair they are also
providing the wrong signals if we want to see higher productivity and higher wages in New Zealand said Carol Beaumont,
Labour’s Associate Labour Spokesperson
“The Government has again shown it has no plan to lift workplace productivity, to lift the incomes of New Zealanders or
to close the huge wage gap with Australia.
“Cutting workplace rights harks back to the 1990s and will not encourage the type of workplaces we need, workplaces were
wage and salary earners and their unions are valued and where there is a shared commitment to lifting performance and
productivity.
“It is clear that workers who are empowered and engaged can make a huge difference. This Government is out of touch with
what a modern agenda for lifting workplace productivity entails.
“Unions provide workers with an independent collective voice. Limiting their access to workplaces will result in a lack
of assistance provided for not only individual issues but also collective issues such as health and safety, negotiations
to lift wages and conditions.
“There is not real evidence to justify this change – it was ideology pure and simple.
“This type of ideological response is not the sort of response required from a Government that is ambitious and wants a
brighter future for our workplaces,” said Carol Beaumont.
ENDS