New Zealand’s Trade Unions Block 90-day Temporary Workers Bill

In New Zealand, protest and resistance became the formula to beat back a piece of proposed legislation that would have made it easy for employers to hire and then sack temporary workers during their first 90 days of employment. Last week, on 23 August, just as 5,000 trade unionists assembled in Auckland’s Aotea Square to protest the National Party’s anti-worker bill, Members of Parliament from the Maori Party announced they were shifting course and would not support the measure.

For the past three months, trade unionists of ICEM affiliates Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the National Distribution Union (NDU), have been leading the opposition against the business-friendly proposal under the banner “Work Rights …Our Right!” The campaign generated mass support among New Zealanders.

The bill had cleared a first reading in Parliament earlier this year with a 63-58 vote, with three of the four Maori MPs supporting the measure. With those four votes now opposing the measure, the ruling Labour Party, Green Party and Maoris now have the leverage to stop the anti-worker bill during a second reading.

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said the minority Maori people, with an 18% jobless rate, have too many low-end jobs on the employment ladder. “So, it’s really important that, one, Maori get employed, and two, that Maori are protected,” Sharples said. “The bill was solely to encourage employers to employ like hell in the knowledge that they could get rid of their workers if it didn’t work out.”

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little rejoiced with the workers’ victory. “This bill has been beaten by workers acting together through their unions. It just goes to show the power of collective action.”

Little added, “We’ve done more than just defeat this vicious piece of legislation. We’ve demonstrated our strength as a movement and we’ve made it clear to the National Party that ‘Work Rights are Our Rights,’ and that they are not up for negotiation.” Trade unions will now ask MPs of the NZ First and United Future Parties to examine their working-class priorities in order to stop any future reappearance of the National party bill.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions estimates that, had the bill gone into law, a class of disposable workers numbering 300,000 would have been at risk of losing their jobs in each 90-day period.