August 11, 2008
Media Release

EPMU will not be silenced by National

Ongoing challenges by the National Party to the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union’s registration as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act are part of a strategy to silence workers’ voices and the EPMU says it will not participate in any further legal action.

The EPMU’s registration, granted for a second time last month by the Electoral Commission, has been delayed yet again after National announced it would be seeking a judicial review of the Commission’s most recent decision.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the union will not be wasting any more time or resources on National’s legal challenges.

“The issue of work rights and higher wages is shaping up as a significant one for our members and other working people and the National Party is doing all it can to shut us out of public debate on their negative policies.

“We are confident that we meet the requirements to register under the Electoral Finance Act.

“The fact that the EPMU is the only Labour Party affiliate to be sued when all affiliates clearly play an active role in the life of the party tells us this litigation is more about harassment of the EPMU than a serious attempt to deal with a pressing legal issue.”

This afternoon the EPMU is holding a major rally in Wellington calling for stronger work rights and higher wages.

The rally kicks off at 1pm at the Petone Recreation Centre and forms part of the EPMU’s Work Rights Wage Drive, a series of 25 mass member rallies across New Zealand this month highlighting the issues that matter to working Kiwis this election.

For more information about the Work Rights Wage Drive, including a full schedule, visit www.workrights.org.nz.

ENDS

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