Lubeck MarjaMARJA LUBECK (Labour): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I don't know where to start—all of that rhetoric and one by one I would like to tackle them but I have five minutes so I can't even say thank you to Mr McAnulty for this bill because I'd run out of time before I get there.First of all I'd like to agree with the member of the Green Party Jan Logie. She is absolutely correct in everything that she says when she talks about the fact that this bill doesn't actually give anything more to workers than terms that are already agreed to by the employer. This only applies in places where there is already a collective agreement. That means that the company has already agreed that that is the cost of doing business so all the Opposition is allowing by not agreeing with this bill is that the employer gets out of an agreed employment agreement by employing people at lesser terms and conditions.So this bill is about fair treatment for working people. It is well overdue. We have seen nine long years of a Government that quite frankly does not give a—does not care—Hon Members: Ha ha!MARJA LUBECK: —I forgot where I was for a moment; I thought I was in a different kind of meeting—about working people or their families. They don't want working people to get a fair share. We have seen over the last years working conditions going backwards. People are struggling to make ends meet. As a result we see child poverty homelessness and kids growing up in cars. We're going to stop that under the leadership of our Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. We are starting to attack these neglected problems of the past.Now coming back to this bill the labour hire companies—and I agree with the member Michael Woodhouse—actually can fulfil a legitimate role in short-term labour requirements—Hon Member: That was my point.MARJA LUBECK: Yeah exactly. If companies need staff and it's a short amount of time and there's an unreasonable burden on the administrative side they can employ people for a short term. But what has happened recently—we've seen a shift from that legitimate practice to situations that have led to exploitation of workers in New Zealand. So instead of these agencies recruiting staff for short-term staff shortages they are increasingly using that resource to fill what should be permanent positions and the member Jan Logie pointed out the case of Miss Tulai who worked for four years under a temporary contract up to 62.8 hours a week—minimum wages no holiday leave no sick leave no ACC paid her own ACC cover no KiwiSaver no input in health and safety laws and of course this was her choice".As soon as a labour hire worker starts building up any entitlements because they have been at a company for quite some time or even if they simply speak up on any issue they see in a workplace that they don't agree with there's the threat of just not coming back the next day because under the current law that labour hire worker has no ability to challenge that dismissal. Having no right to raise a grievance and having no secure hours also makes labour hire workers extremely vulnerable to sexual assault and harassment at work.So the workers have no job security no leave entitlement no sick leave and no annual leave. They're even denied the basic human right of maternity leave. They have no voice on health and safety in the workplace. They have no career prospects. They have no training. There is no skills development for them and because also they have no guaranteed or predictable hours of work they don't have a guaranteed income. With that comes an inability for families and people to make any plans. They can't get a mortgage. Basically what is being done is denying working people a fair go at getting ahead. These people are treated as a commodity to their employer—a liability. They're treated unfairly without respect. They have no dignity. This current law shifts all of the responsibilities to the very vulnerable workers and that just isn't right.If this bill gets passed it will not increase costs beyond what the employer has already agreed is fair through a collective bargain. It will still enable labour hire operators to operate in the way they were meant to and the employer will still have the ability to deal with increased labour demands without facing an unreasonable administrative burden but it will stop exploitation of workers by giving labour hire workers equal rights and treating them decently and respectfully. Working people are first of all people not a commodity and I commend this bill to the House."