The Unionist, Issue 38, 13 April 2006

In this weeks Unionist the CTU argues that the National Partys members bill - the Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill - is the thin end of the wedge for this party, and a major attack on workers.

Either read on, or you can download the printed version of The Unionist here (PDF file, 28 kb)

90 days bill thin end of the wedge says CTU

Last month workers got a taste of what a National government might have dealt to them had it been elected last September. A bill introduced by the National Party would enable employers to sack workers without reason and remove personal grievance rights for all workers in their first three months of employment.

National are calling this the Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill. The CTU says this is disingenuous. It is a complete removal of any employment rights for the first 90 days, not a genuine, agreed probationary period between an employer and employee as the Employment Relations Act already provides for, CTU President Ross Wilson said.

"Employers will be able to dismiss an employee for any reason they choose ? they need not provide any basis or reason for their decision. No matter how well an employee is performing, now matter how much effort they are putting in, if the bill becomes law an employer will be able to terminate their employment at any stage in the first three months."

"The bill is truly the thin end of the wedge. Given the chance, National would also do away with the highly successful network of workplace health and safety reps, throw up the fourth week of annual leave for negotiation and abolish time and half for working on public holidays," said Ross Wilson.

"The 90 days bill is totally unjustified. Employers can already employ people on a casual basis. They can already employ people for a fixed term. And they can already start someone on a genuine probationary period, provided it is conducted and terminated fairly."

The Employment Relations Act already provides for all of these things, and all National is doing is giving employers a free pass to sack workers at will, Ross Wilson said.

"On average we have about 6 job changes in our working lives. So 6 times in a lifetime, the average worker would be denied their employment rights, as we would all be turned into casual workers for 90 days. Why would workers take the risk of a new job when they know that they will be without any employment rights for the first three months?"

"Let's be perfectly clear ? the National bill is a major attack on the rights of all workers. It removes basic employment rights for every worker in our society. Although this bill will particularly affect short term, casual and seasonal workers it would apply to every single one of us each time we start a new job. "

Submissions to the Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill close on May 19, and the CTU will be making a detailed submission opposing the bill. The CTU has prepared a guide for other groups wishing to make a submission, which can be downloaded from the CTU website here.

Events

Unions Local Events

Unions Canterbury April 18, 4pm TUC, 199 Armagh Street, Christchurch Karena.Brown@epmu.org.nz

Unions Palmerston North April 28, 3pm PSA House, 41-47 King St, Palmerston North john.shennan@psa.org.nz

Unions Northland May 3, 5pm. TUC, 7 First Ave, Whangarei gparsloe@seafarers.org.nz

Unions Hawkes Bay May 8, 5.30pm TUC, 2 Lipton Pl, Napier dhyde@nduunion.org.nz

CTU Meetings, Training
CTU Minimum Code Working Group April 19, 10am-1pm CTU Boardroom Wellington peterc@nzctu.org.nz

Meeting with MFAT Officals re GATS April 20, 10am-12.30pm AUS Boardroom Wellington peterc@nzctu.org.nz

CTU meeting of affiliates to discuss the Tertiary Education Review. May 1, 10.30am-1.30pm CTU Boardroom carolb@nzctu.org.nz

CTU International Committee May 3, 9am-1pm CTU Boardroom Wellington

CTU Women's Council 5 May, 9am-3.30pm CTU Boardroom Wellington sue.oshea@psa.org.nz

Health and safety workshops for all Union staff 10 May, 9am-1pm 62 London Street, Hamilton oksanaz@nzctu.org.nz Health and safety workshops for all Union staff 17 May, 9am-1pm EPMU, Christchurch oksanaz@nzctu.org.nz

Workplace Productivity Education Programme (WPEP). Regional Workshops for Union Officials All workshops are 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. sandyo@nzctu.org.nz / 04 385 1334, ext 847
Thursday 27 April at Hamilton Trade Union Centre 34 Harwood Street Hamilton
Friday 5 May at Auckland Trade Union Hall 147 Great North Road Grey Lynn
Tuesday 9 May at Wellington Morgan and Dick room St John's complex Cnr Dixon and Willis Street
Tuesday 23 May Christchurch Meeting Room at EPMU Office 298 Cashel Street Christchurch

May Day (May 1) and Workers Memorial Day (April 28). Next week's Unionist will have a full wrap of regional events.

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Service & Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota. 'Clean Start - Fair Deal for Cleaners' Campaign launch. April 20 Auckland: 12 - 1:30pm, Methodist Mission, Queen St, Auckland Central. Wellington: 12 - 1:30pm, Loaves and Fishes Hall, Cnr. Molesworth and Hill Street, Wellington. kirsty.mccully@sfwu.org.nz

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Contact If you have any information about upcoming CTU events please contact: Sam Huggard - (04) 802 3817, email: samh@nzctu.org.nz