Harawira Hone: Employment Relations (Probationary  Employment) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Employment Relations (Probationary  Employment) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6738] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tena tatou te Whare tena koutou e te whanau o nga kaimahi. Kia ora tatou katoa. 
 [ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker. Greetings to us in the House and the family of workers. Good health to us all. 
] 
Some bills come up at just the right time and this is one of them. This week marks the anniversary of the death of Sojourner Truth the famous anti-slavery activist. Indeed in the United States November is designated as truth month and in Michigan there is even a Sojourner Truth day coming up on Sunday. But I have no doubt that all these were facts that completely bypassed my colleague Dr Mapp in bringing the Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill back to the House. If the name “Sojourner” sounds familiar it is because in 1995 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration named the Mars Pathfinder rover Sojourner in honour of Sojourner Truth’s birth some 200 years ago. 
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery and became the property of four more owners before she finally marched to freedom in 1826. From that time on she travelled the land preaching the truth and working against injustice. According to the stories everywhere Sojourner Truth spoke she made a lasting impression. It could have been because she was over 6 feet tall and had a powerful and booming voice but it was probably also because of the power of her message. She was a seeker of truth a fighter for human rights and a campaigner against injustice. 
So what can Sojourner Truth possibly have to do with Wayne Mapp and this bill? It is simple. In this truth month we look to her legacy as another example of the inspiration so many black activists have given to indigenous people about how to tackle systemic bias and how to fight institutional racism in order to effect change. Truth No. 1 asks: is the probationary period necessary? 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Yes. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Well—yes? This bill proposes the introduction of a 90-day probation period during which prospective new employees will be assessed by their employers. It is something employers have been gassing about for years. But in fact current legislation already provides for probationary periods. The problem therefore seems to be that employers simply do not know that those provisions are there—a problem that could easily be fixed by better employer education and workplace communication not by a new bill. The solution would seem to lie in better informing employers about how to use the provisions; a “How to read the Act” kind of brochure might be a good outcome from this bill. 
Truth No. 2—not—is that the introduction of a probationary period will address Maori unemployment. The Maori Party copped a fair bit of flak for our decision to support the referral of this bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. Our people simply could not understand why we were having any truck with it at all. But our motives were clear: our role as a party is to defend Maori rights and to advance Maori interests for the benefit of the whole nation. But it is also our responsibility to get the best possible information on which to make our decisions so we referred the bill to the select committee to hear submissions on it. We wanted to hear the views of Maori workers Maori employers Maori unemployed and their whanau about things like how to address the situation of generations of Maori unemployment how to deal with the massive gaps between Maori and non-Maori incomes and how to deal with institutional racism. 
We were disappointed with the truths that came back from the select committee. There was simply no evidence at all to support the claim that removing workers’ rights would increase Maori employment. We were open to the possibility that there might be benefits in taking a chance but in the end we were not prepared to support the wiping out of rights built up over generations on the off chance that it might work. As my co-leader Tariana Turia said last week in the context of the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) despite comparable academic qualifications or skill levels Maori are still being subjected to bias from employers. The truth is that in this new millennium Maori are still being employed less often and paid less money than any other New Zealanders and the Mapp bill will do nothing to change the persistent racism of that reality. 
The multiple causes of Maori unemployment would be far better addressed through initiatives around job skills training mentoring education better wages regional and rural employment programmes and eliminating racism from the workplace. 
Hon Member 
: Becoming employers. 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Penei i a taua. [ 
Like you and me 
.] 
Truth No. 3—not—is that the bill will encourage employers to take a chance with new employees without facing the risk of personal grievance procedures. The Maori Party is prepared to look at anything to improve Maori opportunities for employment but this bill simply does not do it. I know that because I have been an employer for the last 20 years in Kaitaia and I have not needed to do this kind of thing to bring people off the unemployment register and into my workplace. Employers simply make a decision that they are going to do it and then they go ahead and do it. They do not need this bill to make that happen. The decision is in the hearts of employers. If they choose not to do it they ain’t going to do it. Sure employers may take a chance but they also take advantage by having the right to dismiss workers rather than invest in them. 
There were heaps of submissions about the fears that workers have particularly in respect of those already vulnerable to racism those unaware of their rights and those who could drop back to casual employment because once they are out the door they have to stand down for anywhere between 13 and 26 weeks before they can get the dole. Then they are back on the cycle of unemployment and the treadmill of shame and humiliation. Submissions also noted the lack of evidence to back up the argument that probationary periods actually result in employers offering jobs to those less likely or less able to find employment. That just does not happen. 
Truth No. 4 asserts that the bill will not create a grievance industry. The age-old argument about so-called grievance industries always gets pulled out when an argument is losing ground. Treaty settlements are well tarred with this brush but the truth is that grievances did occur again and again no matter how much the thief who happened to be the Government the policemen who happened to be the Government the judges who happened to be the Government or the juries who happened to be the Government as well might seek to diminish that reality. Treaty settlements are not a grievance industry. The Treaty settlement process is a lifelong commitment to righting wrongs and to seeking justice for those generations yet to come. 
In this bill too the myth of the grievance industry is simply an outright lie. In 2004 only 0.5 percent—that is half a percent—of workers even applied for mediation and even fewer took it any further. So perhaps we should be looking to ensure that employers treat their employees properly rather than being afraid of personal grievances arising—which is hardly ever. The other point of course is that personal grievances are neither expensive nor drawn out— 
Jacqui Dean 
: Oh! 
HONE HARAWIRA 
: Well these just happen to be facts that I am using here. In 2004 83 percent of the so-called urgent cases referred to mediation were dealt with in 15 days and 93 percent within 3 months—I am sorry for using facts. In fact only 20 percent of those cases—0.1 percent; which is about as close to zero one can get—actually ended up before the Employment Relations Authority. So much for the grievance argument! 
Truth No. 5 asserts that workers’ rights will remain unscathed. It has also been noted by many submitters that the intention to waive workers’ rights through this bill is actually in breach of both the Employment Relations Act and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The Maori Party upholds provisions of fairness good faith fair treatment and high regard as the basis for employment law. The right to work and workers’ rights must all be upheld in a way that protects workers and allows sufficient flexibility for employers. 
Like Sojourner Truth our journey with this bill has not been an easy one but in the end our commitment to upholding fundamental human rights was a driving force in our decision. We simply could not support removing the right to mediation and dropping the right to appeal bad decisions. The Maori Party supports the right for everyone in Aotearoa to take a chance but the risks we would be taking in letting this particular rocket fly are simply too great to be acceptable and for all these reasons the Maori Party will be happily voting against this bill.