Stand Up, the youth union movement, today commemorated the Government’s 90th day in power by using its own new employment policy, the 90-day trial period, to issue Prime Minister Christopher Luxon with a termination letter outlining how his Government has failed to meet the expectations of young workers.
“We wanted make sure the Prime Minister knows that young workers won’t take these attacks lying down,” said Stand Up Co-convenor Justine Sachs.
“The reintroduction of 90-day trials to all businesses creates uncertainty for workers starting out a new job, with no real evidence that these carry the labour market benefits the Government has claimed they do.
“It’s gone from bad to worse, with the recent decision to cut the minimum wage in real terms, ensuring that those struggling to make ends meet fall further behind in a cost-of-living crisis,” said Sachs.
“The beauty of 90-day trials, according to Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden back in December when reintroducing them, was their ability to help a business “find the right fit” in a worker. As young workers, we just don’t think this Government is the right fit to steer us through a cost of living and climate crisis,” said Stand Up Co-convenor, Dr Zoë Port.
“Our expectations were already low – but the reality that younger workers are now faced with is even bleaker than we imagined. We’re watching workers rights’ being stripped away, using brute force, under parliamentary urgency.
“If the Government is so confident, why not let their decisions, like the decision to reintroduce 90-day trials for all businesses, stand up to normal democratic scrutiny via select committee? I say the answer is simple – because they’re not up to the job,” said Port.