By attempting to backtrack on its promise to strengthen New Zealanders’ work rights New Zealand First is letting down the very Kiwi battlers it claims to represent, says the Council of Trade Unions.
CTU President Richard Wagstaff says the move would be a betrayal. “We’re incredibly disappointed by New Zealand First’s attempts to duck the commitment they made to strengthen workers rights. Their attempts to back out of their Cabinet agreement to support multi-employer collective agreements (MECAs) has come after an intensive push by big business lobbyists.
“New Zealand First claim that they are backing small business, but this is a big business issue. You only have to look at the dreadful pay and conditions at multinational plastics company Sistema, to see what happens when you weaken MECA bargaining.[1]
“And it’s JNL – part of a massive Japanese-owned multinational turning over three quarters of a billion dollars a year – that was cited by NZF Minister Shane Jones this morning as needing MECAs stopped.[2]
“Frankly I don’t think people voted for New Zealand First to see them put the interests of multinational corporations over the interests of hard-working Kiwis. They should take a look at themselves and decide who they really stand for.”