National’s 47-point small business plan is mostly minor tweaks, re-announcements and overdue housekeeping – but tucked inside it is an attack on working people’s right to bargain collectively, says the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi (NZCTU).
“For all the talk of backing small business, the most significant thing in this plan is an attack on working people’s right to bargain collectively – which would put New Zealand in breach of international law,” says Sandra Grey, NZCTU President.
“The rest is a mix of minor tweaks, things that already exist or are already under way, and items that leave you asking why Luxon’s Government hasn’t done them already.
“Some of these so-called proposals simply describe how things work right now and dress it up as new policy – mediators making binding recommendations and repeat seasonal employment are two examples.
“Then there’s the banal, like producing guidance on the Employment Leave Act, and a fair bit of business as usual to get the number up to 47 and make it look like they’re doing more than they are.
“We welcome National’s plan to bring us out of the 1980s by removing fax requirements – though we couldn’t find any. We are, however, seriously concerned about the proposal to remove labelling requirements for hazardous substances.”
Grey says the changes unions want to see, such as better access to the Employment Relations Authority and faster decisions, can’t happen without significant additional resourcing.
“The union movement has been calling for that resourcing for years, yet it’s nowhere to be found in this plan,” says Grey.
“The real reason small businesses are struggling and going under – the reason you see so many empty shopfronts in our towns and cities – is that the Luxon Government has mishandled the economy. The cost of living combined with high unemployment has left businesses without customers.
“That’s what this Government needs to fix. Small business doesn’t need 47 band-aids.”