No respect for workers in rest breaks Bill
The Government is putting business interests before workers’ health and safety and dignity by rolling back the Rest and
Meal Breaks legislation introduced just last year, the CTU told Select Committee today. The wellbeing and fair treatment
of thousands of workers are at risk by removing the right of workers to take reasonable breaks during their working day.
“This is just another instance of the Government branding Kiwi workers as layabout slackers who don’t deserve regular
breaks,” said CTU President Helen Kelly. “The legislation was passed to establish decent minimum standards for rest and
meals because more and more workers get nothing but the legal minimum. If that minimum is reduced then thousands of
workers will see their working lives worsen. It is hard to imagine what the Government is thinking by making this
change.”
“It also puts the safety of those workers at risk. Part of the reason for the legislation was to ensure that workers
aren’t forced to work for too long without a rest since research shows the rate of accidents increases towards the end
of long working spells as workers tire.”
“New Zealand workers don’t deserve the attack this Government has launched on their rights at work. Combined, they make
a grim picture – removal of the right to appeal unfair dismissal, cuts to Kiwisaver, restrictions on the right to meet
with the union, requirements to produce a sick note for even a day, and now this – not even a right to have a sandwich
and a cup of tea during a long day’s work. Unions are organising rallies in major cities on 21 August to protest at
these attacks on the rights of working people.”
ENDS