Today is an historic occasion for New Zealand workers.
Since May 1991 and the double whammy of the Employment Contracts Act and the benefit cuts, the balance of economic and social power in this country has shifted drastically. The gap between rich and poor has widened with each passing day. Structural unemployment of over 200,000 and a punitive income support regime, combined with the reduced capacity of workers to bargain collectively, have lead to lower standards of living for many people and an increasingly divided society. Thus I am honoured to stand here today on behalf of the Green Party to pledge our support to the Government's Employment Relations Bill, remembering as I do so all the workers, employed and unemployed, who have struggled over the last nine years to bring an end to the ECA regime, and to the bitterness and betrayal for which it has come to stand. We've had enough of the divide and rule tactics which have splintered and demoralised the union movement, reduced union membership to a shadow of its former self, and seen the weakest and lowest paid members of the workforce the most vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.