Henare Tau: Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Henare Tau: Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 I move  
That the Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill be referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. First of all I thank my National Party colleagues for allowing me to put this bill in the ballot and for then supporting me—hopefully—when the time comes to refer it to the select committee. The bill’s title is the Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill. In a nutshell it amends the Employment Relations Act 2000 to require unions to hold a secret ballot vote of their members to approve a strike before undertaking any strike action. 
My key message to the House is that National has always believed that employment law should treat all parties fairly with the focus on protecting employees and employers. National has been committed for a long time to creating a positive work environment and I think that this bill supports that priority. I will not take up too much of the House’s time but I will say in an overview that our nation is at a crossroads and that we need to get this nation back on a footing where we are concentrating on productivity. I think that the raft of measures that National has seen in in the 18 to 20 months that it has been on the Treasury benches has done that. 
This bill requires unions to hold a secret ballot for their members when voting on strike action. Strikes can be incredibly stressful for both sides both financially and mentally. One of the reasons why I suggested this bill to my colleagues was that one such person felt that he was under pressure when it came time to decide whether he would be part of the withdrawal of labour at his workplace. Not all workers will be in the same personal circumstances so it is fair that any decision they make is free from judgment by anyone else. This bill will provide a protection mechanism for workers who may feel intimidated through the voting process. People must feel at ease with the process whether it is about choosing to withdraw their labour or choosing their representatives every 3 years. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Did New Zealand First have a ballot when they walked out of the National Government? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That member was about 7 when that happened. This bill will ensure that a secret ballot before strikes is a legal requirement for all unions. It is nothing new. Actually all that this bill does is to codify and standardise what is already occurring within some of the major unions of this country. I want to make it quite clear that this is not about a fight between right and left or a fight between National and Labour; it is not even a fight between employers and employees. This is not an attack on unions. Rather it enhances the processes that many unions already have in place. 
Sue Moroney 
: What about employers? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: We will get to that; we will get to the little squeak from the Opposition members. 
I had a meeting today with Peter Conway from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and it is very clear and apparent that the Council of Trade Unions does not have any problem with this bill. But it is also very clear and apparent to me that it wants to couch some issues in the select committee process and I cannot wait for the council to come along—and for anyone else to come along—to make a submission on this bill. I think that the wars we used to fight have been won and lost. I will not say who won or who lost but let us just say that those wars have been fought; those wars have been won and those wars have been lost. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: There’s nothing wrong with a bit of history. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Absolutely; it makes us better people if we understand that history. It makes us better people if we know— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: It would make your colleagues very well informed. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No no. Again you see this is not about right and left; this is not about National and Labour. This is about protecting a person’s right to make a decision without fear or favour. Protecting a person’s right to make a decision without feeling that he or she is under the cosh so to speak— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The cosh or the bottle? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: The bottle as well. We have all done things in our pasts that we rather regret; I ask Trevor Mallard whether that is not so. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I have never bottled anyone. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No some people never regret what they have done. They continue to make the same mistakes as they have in the past. But that is different and not what we are here for. 
We are here to protect a person’s right to withdraw their labour in a way whereby they are fully informed and not under any threat either physical or mental. So I have set out today and in my talks with various people to make sure that the bill is non-controversial. It is all about transparency; it is all about democracy. It is all about the rights of the individual person who is being asked to withdraw his or her labour. In fact that is the only real tool that workers have in their kitbags so to speak to further their interests. 
As I said I will not speak for very much longer other than to say that I received a very very nice letter concerning legal advice in respect of the consistency of my bill with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. I am glad to inform the House that there are no issues with my bill going forward. It certainly does not contravene I believe any of the rights in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. I leave the House to consider and make up its mind.