Pillay Lynne: Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading In Committee Speaker Recalled 
Pillay Lynne: Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading In Committee Speaker Recalled 
[Volume:668;Page:15390] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 As I follow the speech made by Tau Henare I acknowledge the young people who are in the gallery today. They were taught at school to treat people with dignity and respect yet they hear that sort of barrage from the Government side of the Chamber. For Tau Henare to be talking about manners is a teensy bit funny I have to say. 
I will get back to the bill. The Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) as we have said before and will say again is unnecessary and unfair. As I predicted Jackie Blue—whom I have a tremendous amount of respect for as a person; I think she is a fair-minded person—has missed the plot on this bill. What did Jackie Blue say in this Chamber? She said 75 percent of people are keeping their jobs under this legislation. Seventy-five percent of people are keeping their jobs but 25 percent of people are losing their jobs in their first 90 days of employment. That is outrageous. 
As I look at the young people sitting up in the gallery I wonder how they would feel if out of every 100 of them 25 were sacked in their first 90 days of employment for not necessarily any reason at all. What does that say to young people entering the workplace? What does that say to young people who are taught to have good self-esteem and who are taught to have respect? They go to work and for whatever reason—they put too much sauce on the hamburger or they have an earring that the boss does not like—suddenly they are down the road with no explanation whatsoever. That is appalling. 
Let us talk for a moment about the consultation on this bill. The Department of Labour commissioned a report to measure the impact of the 90-day trial period. To reflect the real consequences over 3500 employers were spoken to. That is OK. Labour members would say that speaking to over 3500 employers is a really fair and reasonable level of consultation—over 3500 employers. Thirteen employees—13 employees—were consulted on the impact. I ask members where the fairness is in that. 
Darien Fenton 
: No balance. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: There is absolutely no balance. I go back to what I said before: this bill is unfair and unbalanced as is the Government—in particular Tau Henare. 
Let us talk about access to the workplace. I tell members that as a union official the only time I had problems with access to the workplace was in the 1990s. I was threatened. I think that everyone here will accept that I am a pretty reasonable person. I know that my colleagues often say I would be one of the most reasonable people in our caucus. Am I right? 
Hon Member 
: Soft. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: They call me a bit too soft. 
Sue Moroney 
: Too soft. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Sue Moroney says I am too soft. The only time I had difficulty with access I had to call the police because an employer threatened me. We are wearing white ribbons in support of anti-violence. That was what happened when access to the worksite was restricted because a bully-boy boss would not let me on to the worksite. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Where was that? What job was that? 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I am not going to name the place. I am not going to do that because I do not languish in the past. Unlike that member I do not languish in the past. 
We know that when the Employment Relations Act was enacted under the previous Labour Government the number of disputes went right down. What are we seeing under this Government? We are seeing the number of strikes go up because this Government does not work on relationships. It does not recognise the importance of relationships between unions and employers. How many times have union officials gone into the workplace and the employer has said it knew the official was coming today but it actually has a big order on? The employer asks whether it is OK to put off the meeting and for the official to come back tomorrow. What does the official say? He or she says: “Of course.” That is reasonable. Officials are from the union. They are there to help.