It gives a secure base to build industrial relations law if you have a government that respected those requirements. There is nothing compulsory about this law - the responsibility is on unions to organise workers into unions. All we ask is respect for collective bargaining and organising in law. The law also has the potential to encourage new unions to be established provided they can be democratic and independent of employer influence. The CTU does not anticipate that multi-employer bargaining will occur quickly in any areas, Ross said.
Many workers are committed to their own enterprise agreements.
At the same time it has the potential for workers in workplaces where they are more vulnerable to get together. He believes that there has been a suppression of strike action over the past few years. But the new legislation has very heavily emphasised good faith requirements and mediation, which will require a focused approach to endeavouring to reach agreement before strikes or lockouts take place. Joanna Beresford of the NZEI pointed out that the education sector took unprecedented levels of strike action under the ECA and Ross pointed out that the same could be said for the Nurses Organisation. Really it's going to depend to a very large extent on the employers' approach to this legislation.