Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Fenton Darien: Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10355] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I think it is very interesting that we are debating the Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill on a day when it has been announced that work stoppages are at their highest level in 5 years. 
Hon Members 
: Oh! 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Oh! So the National Government the friend to business is presiding over the highest rate of industrial action that we have seen in 5 years. It is no wonder the member Tau Henare is keen to have the passage of his bill. But it is very good to see that that member and the National Government have finally come out to support workers’ right to strike—because I have not been sure of that particularly since the 1990s when that right was so curtailed—even though the timing of the bill is a little bit unfortunate. We are pleased to have a piece of industrial relations legislation that is not viciously attacking workers’ rights because everything else we have seen from this Government does—for example the 90-day fire-at-will bill the Holidays Act review and the pitiful minimum wage increases. They have all been about pandering to business and sacrificing the rights of Kiwi workers. 
Although we are supporting this bill we have to question whether there are not more pressing issues to consider. There is no demand or need that I am aware of for this legislation. Tau Henare said in the paper that the idea came from his time as a union organiser in the 1980s. I mean things have changed quite a lot since then. Poor old clerical workers! What did they do to deserve that member as an experienced union organiser? 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I will have you know that we were a great team. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is right. I have to tell that member of the National Government that there are not legions of union officials going around the country pushing reluctant workers into strike action. As a union leader over many years I never had one complaint from one member about that. The member said he had one person come to him so it seems like a pretty small and minor issue. 
Iain Lees-Galloway 
: Could’ve been one of the other National members’ bills. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Well it could have been too; that is right. I think also that in a modern union movement workers make many decisions as union members not just about whether they will strike or take industrial action but about whom they will elect as their workplace leaders. They also decide on collective agreements which is usually the most important thing; the thing they are most interested in is what their pay rise will be. They vote on union rules. There are things such as union rules that are covered by the Employment Relations Act and unions are required to have those rules. And they vote on the democratic governance structures. Workers are not stupid. They cannot be pushed into doing things they do not want to do. Anyone who thinks so should just catch up because it is so different from what it was in the 1980s. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Tell that to the Service and Food Workers Union themselves. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: I have and those workers are right behind me. If Mr Henare goes to talk to them they will tell him that and particularly the cleaners in this workplace whom that member has never supported. 
I will raise some issues though because there are many issues in this bill and I think perhaps that the member has not thought them through. Apart from the fact that the bill does not do anything there are some issues like the lack of balance that my colleagues have referred to. Why is there a duty on workers to have secret ballots for strikes but not one on employers including a secret ballot of shareholders? When employers lock out workers it is vicious; lockouts are shocking and they take away the economic livelihood of workers. They have had absolutely enough. There are a whole lot of questions about this. As I said I do not think that the member has thought through how this will work. 
How will the secret ballot be conducted? Will it require a new army of labour inspectors to supervise these ballots? How will the Government pay for this out of its ever-decreasing public service funds? What will be the rules around the conducting of a ballot? How will the votes be counted? Will there be restrictions on the questions that can be asked? How will we make sure that employers do not interfere in the ballot? How will we stop that happening? What will happen if an employer says the workers cannot get together to have a secret ballot? What if they cannot meet? Will they be forced to use their paid stopwork meetings? Most important what will happen to workers in health and safety situations? They currently have the right to go on strike if they are facing a hazard and can walk off the job. Will they have to stop and say “Oh well we’ll just take a secret ballot and we won’t worry about the hazard.”? There are many questions that I look forward to addressing in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee.