Moroney Sue: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — In Committee Recommittal Third Reading 
Moroney Sue: Employment Relations Amendment Bill — In Committee Recommittal Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:480] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 Well well well those members could not wait could they? They could not wait to put the boot into hard-working New Zealanders. The very minute that this National Government gets into power on day two they use it to take away workers’ rights. When have we seen that before? That is right it was the last time that the National Party came into power. One of the first things National members enacted was the shocking Employment Contracts Act that took away workers’ rights. It not only took away workers’ rights but it also reduced workers’ wages. It took away their rights to have penal rates. It reduced their take-home pay. Here National members are back in power and they are at it again. They are straight into it straight into taking away workers’ rights. 
All of the speakers from that side of the House got up and said that this is about opportunity and that we had it wrong. Where is the opportunity in workers one day having the right to take a personal grievance if they are unfairly dismissed and the very next day not having that right if they are unfairly dismissed? The date has changed during the course of the debate because it turns out that it will now be until the last day of February that workers will have the right to a personal grievance if they are unfairly dismissed at work. Suddenly on 1 March overnight all of those many workers who are in their first 90 days of employment in a company with 20 or fewer employees will lose that very basic right to have legal redress if they are unfairly dismissed at work. That Minister knows it. She knows that having a legal remedy the backstop of taking a personal grievance case is at the heart of a worker’s right to fairness at work. 
The people of this country voted for a new Government and by gosh have they got a shock! They thought it was going to be business as usual. That is what National Party members went out of their way to say on the election campaign trail. They tried so hard to make it look like there would not be much of a change. They said that it would just be business as usual. Workers in this country are already reeling. They now know that it is not business as usual. I have an interesting graphic here that I think says it all. Members will want to have a look at this. This is the smiley face of John Key. Here he is. This is the smile that people voted for. They thought they were getting a nice guy. They thought they were getting someone who would continue with business as usual. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The smiling assassin! 
SUE MORONEY 
: This is it. He is the smiling assassin. Here he is saying “Merry Christmas. You’re fired. Love John.” Here is his Christmas gift to all New Zealand workers particularly those who change jobs. To the New Zealand workers who are listening to this and thinking “Oh well it probably will not ever affect me” I say to listen to this. How many workers actually change jobs? This provision affects all workers who will be changing jobs not just young people. It does not matter what age the worker might be. We know that the effects of this bill will be widespread. We know that every 3 months a quarter of a million people in New Zealand start a new job. 
Moana Mackey 
: How many? 
SUE MORONEY 
: Every 3 months 250000 people start a new job. We know that 96 percent of New Zealand companies employ 20 or fewer employees so we know how widespread are the people who will be exposed to this unfairness at work. It will not be a small number of people; it will be a significant number of people. They will be people who you Mr Speaker and I and everyone else in this House all know. They will be our children and our brothers and sisters. Good grief it might even be members in this Chamber. 
Even though I did not agree at all with the ACT amendment that was snuck in—and National members never admitted that they were going to support it but they did and they brought it forward—I wonder about the timing of it. It is interesting that this bill does not come into effect until after 90 days of this new Government. I think that is quite deliberate because if it came in within the 90 days of this new Government those members might be up for their jobs. The New Zealand public would be saying “Good grief what have we done? We thought we were voting for the smile and we have ended up with the same old National Government that comes in and puts the boot into workers in its first 100 days of action.” 
I want to talk about the 100 days of action because it is supposed to be turbocharged. As recently as only a week ago the Minister in charge of this bill Kate Wilkinson said that this bill was not part of the 100 days of action. Clearly those members have already run out of ideas for their 100 days of action and they are pulling in every other bill that they can literally think of. That is what is going on here. They are already on day two of business in this House and they have run out of turbocharged ideas for their 100 days of action. 
Workers will be reeling because they have become used to almost a decade of a Government that has stood up for workers’ rights. The Labour-led Government enhanced workers’ rights. It was the Labour-led Government that introduced the idea of good faith into our employment legislation. It was the Labour-led Government that ensured all workers in this country are entitled to a fourth week of annual leave. It was the Labour-led Government that introduced paid parental leave and what a difference that has made for many New Zealand families. It will be interesting to see what the new Minister does about paid parental leave because I have not heard her say anything positive about it at this stage. She seemed to not react too well to hearing that the Labour-led Government introduced paid parental leave so it will be very interesting to see what she does in that regard. 
It was the Labour-led Government that introduced legislation by amending this same Act of Parliament to ensure that vulnerable workers had their rights protected if their jobs were contracted out. It was the Labour-led Government that ensured all workers had the right to bargain collectively. It was the Labour-led Government that ensured workers got paid decent wages when they were required to work on statutory holidays. Breastfeeding breaks meal breaks rest periods—you name it; all of these things were enhancements to workers’ rights. They were enhancements to family life and enhancements to fairness at work. It is no wonder that New Zealand workers thought: “Well gosh it sounds quite good really doesn’t it this business as usual. Let’s have a change but it is going to be business as usual.” What a rude shock they have received already. For the first time in almost a decade there is legislation before this House that is reducing workers’ rights. That has not happened in almost a decade. The last time it happened was the last time the National Party was on the Treasury benches and it is happening all over again. 
Well here we go. New Zealand workers need to start learning to stand up for their rights again because they are under attack and they have been under attack from day one from this National Government. They are so much under attack that the National Government did not even want other organisations or any members of the public coming and telling it what they thought about this attack on workers’ rights. The Government has rushed this bill through all its stages under urgency so that no organisations can come along and say what they think of this reduction in workers’ rights. A few organisations have made press releases over the course of the last 12 hours. In fact that is the only opportunity they have had to say what they think—by pumping out press releases. That is not a great democratic process but that is the only thing those organisations have been able to do. 
I will read just a couple of those statements from those organisations. We did not have a select committee process but this is what they would have come along and said. This is from the New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women which is hardly one of those lefty union organisations that Dr Wayne Mapp talked about. It said that the bill is a step backward for all employees particularly women. Is that not a great legacy from the new National Government to particularly attack women workers? The federation stated: “We have worked hard to improve the status of women in New Zealand over the past 70 years and to hear that New Zealand might soon have a law that would allow employers to fire an employee without reason or redress horrifies us.” The business and professional women of New Zealand are horrified by this law change and so is the Labour Party. 
Debate interrupted.