Campaign News

No fairness in workplace law changes coming into force 1 April

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

There is nothing fair in the new workplace law changes that will come into force tomorrow on 1 April, says the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).

"These law changes are an attack on basic work rights. They aren't about making working life fairer or even making business performance better. They're just a crude appeal to the nasty side of bad employers," says EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.

"They were passed at the height of the nation's grieving over the explosion at the Pike River mine and even though there's been more tragedy since, the government is insisting on going ahead with these attacks on basic work rights," says Andrew Little.

"Rising unemployment shows the existing 90 day ‘fire-at-will' law covering companies with fewer than 20 workers have not helped employment."

"Our members will use their collective strength in the workplace to nullify the nasty side of these laws."

"We are approaching employers with either collective bargaining claims to stop things like the 90 day no rights law or the new rules on medical certificates being used by employers or seeking a pledge that they will not reduce themselves to the low level that the law represents."

"These activities are being supported by a multimedia campaign including online ‘clicktivism', radio and newspaper advertising, and online social media information pages."

"Our message is that Kiwi workers don't have to accept unfairness at work even if these National Party laws encourage it."

"You can do something about it and fight back and insist on basic justice at work."

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+ campaign audio

EPMU launches campaign opposing unfair new workplace laws

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

The EPMU launches its "Things just got tougher" campaign today, opposing the government's unfair new workplace law changes that take effect this week on Friday 1st April and demanding employers promise not to use the laws.

From Friday 1st April law changes will take effect that extend the 90-day "fire-at-will" law to all workplaces, restrict union access, allow employers to demand a medical certificate for a single day of sick leave or family leave, and allow the selling off of the fourth week of holiday entitlement.

"Hundreds of EPMU delegates and organisers across the country are approaching employers to pledge not to use these unfair new workplace laws or putting up claims for their collective employment agreements that strengthen ‘Fairness at Work'," says EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.

"These activities are supported by a multimedia campaign including an online petition, campaign materials on Facebook and Flickr, and nationwide radio and newspaper advertising," says Andrew Little.

"These laws were passed at the height of the nation's grieving over the explosion at the Pike River mine and even though there's been more tragedy since, the government is insisting on going ahead with these attacks on basic work rights".

"The National Party would like everyone to quietly accept their unfair and unjust new laws but Kiwi workers won't be fooled by the government's spin on 1st April".

"These new laws aren't about making good management better. They're to protect bad employer behaviour. And they're designed to make it harder for workers to have their voices heard in the workplace".

"Workers are entitled to be safe in their place of work, to exercise their freedom of choice about belonging to a union and to be treated fairly and properly by their employer."

"Employers are very good at demanding standards of behaviour for employees. Employees are also entitled to demand acceptable standards of behaviour from their employers."

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+ campaign audio

+ view campaign poster

NZIER research fatally flawed

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

NZIER (NZ Institute of Economic Research) research published last month claiming to show the government's 90 day "fire-at-will" law has increased hiring in small firms draws invalid conclusions from a flawed analysis, the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) has said.

"There is no basis for NZIER and the Minister of Labour to present these findings as evidence that the 90-day 'fire-at-will' policy has resulted in the creation of jobs," CTU Policy Director and Economist Bill Rosenberg said.

"The report's claim is unsupportable. NZIER did not know if employers were actually using the 90-day trial. Instead they simply took as an indicator the two factors that a firm employed fewer than 20 staff, and that the time period was after the new law came into effect on 1 March 2009. This confuses timing with cause. We don't know if any change in hiring practice is caused by the new law, by a statistical artefact, or by the many other changes occurring around that time," he said.

Other changes which may have affected results include government tax changes and other assistance targeted at small business introduced at around the same time, other stimulus measures which could have assisted small business disproportionately, and upheaval in the economy, international trade and job market in the depths of the recession. It could even be partly a statistical artefact caused by firms shrinking in size.

"The NZIER paper deviates far from accepted standards for reporting research findings," said Rosenberg. "It fails to clearly describe the data it uses, specify the model it uses or provide its statistical results in full."

"The value of brief reports on items of interest should not be allowed to outrank good scientific method."

"The 90 day fire-at-will law is a major and contentious issue because it impinges on important internationally recognised work rights of New Zealand employees, and the availability of not only jobs, but work under conditions of dignity. It deserves serious and soundly based scrutiny."

+ CTU analysis of NZIER paper

1 April law changes - it's no joke for 1 in 5

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

With the government's unfair new employment laws due to come into effect on 1 April the EPMU is preparing its response, including workplace and other campaign activities.

The 1 April law changes include extending the 90-day no-rights trial period to any worker starting a new job (rather than workers working for small businesses), restricting union members' access to union officials to when the employer agrees and trading the fourth week of annual leave.

According to Department of Labour data one in five workers hired with a 90-day trial period were fired under it.

"We all need to draw attention to just how unfair these new laws will be and start preparing for the workplace-based campaign that is necessary to defeat them," said EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.

"The first step will be to start making claims to employers in collective agreement negotiations."

"For workplaces where there is no bargaining this year we will be talking to delegates about approaching their employer now to get an undertaking that they won't exploit these laws."

Pike River Disaster - messages of support and condolence received by the EPMU

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +1300

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) has received messages of support and condolences for the families of the 29 men killed in the Pike River mine from the following organisations and individuals:

Rt Hon Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, United Nations Headquarters, New York, United States of America
US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, Washington DC, United States of America
Ambassador for Cuba, Jose Luis Robaina Garcia
Su'a William Sio MP, New Zealand
Darien Fenton MP, New Zealand
Senator Doug Cameron, New South Wales, Australia
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa
National Distribution Union (NDU), New Zealand
Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) Nga Ringa Toa, New Zealand
Pak ‘n Save workers, Auckland, New Zealand
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' Unions (ICEM), Switzerland
Rail & Maritime Transport Union (RMTU), New Zealand
EPMU Members, Southland Times, New Zealand
Mana Coffey and family, whanau, work colleagues and friends
New Zealand Public Service Association (NZPSA)
Jenny Michie, New Zealand
New Zealand Dairy Workers Union (NZDWU)
Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ)
Building & Wood Workers International (BWWI), Asia Pacific Regional Office, Malaysia
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU)
The National Affiliates Council (NAC) of the NZCTU
Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) - Mining & Energy Division, Australia
CFMEU - Construction Division, Australia
Anna Wallis, Marlborough Express, New Zealand
Australian Workers' Union (AWU)
New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO)
Grantito Chacone, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU)
Post-Primary Teachers Association (PPTA), Canterbury, New Zealand
NZ Tertiary Education Union, Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa (TEU)
Tai Poutini Polytechnic TEU Branch Committee, New Zealand
EPMU Delegates, Auckland, New Zealand
Annie Tothill, EPMU Educator, Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand Meat Workers & Allied Trades Union (NZMWU)
Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)
Environment & Conservation Organisations of NZ (ECO)
Tertiary Institutes Allied Staff Association (TIASA), New Zealand
MUNZ, Nelson Branch
National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation & General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada)
Frank Souter, MUA
Angus McConnell
Federation of Indian Dairy Workers, Mumbai, India
The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco & Allied Workers' Associations (IUF), Switzerland
AMWU members, Joy Mining facility, Moss Vale, Australia
Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu, New Zealand
NZ Tramways Union
NZ Steel workers, Auckland
All China Federation of Trade Unions, Beijing, People's Republic of China
United Association of South Africa (UASA)
Koos Bezuidenhout, Deputy President, Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA)
General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), Pakistan
Socialist Worker, New Zealand
Aviation & Marine Engineers Association (MEA), New Zealand
Brass Razoo Solidarity Band, Wellington, New Zealand
Electricity Transmission Workers & Employees Union (PGCBSKU), Bangladesh
John Barnhill
International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), Switzerland
Green Party of Aotearoa
EPMU, Amalgamated Workers Union (AWU) and PSA members at Babcock Fitzroy Ltd, Devonport Navel Base, Auckland, New Zealand
Brian Witherspoon, New South Wales, Australia
The Whanau Group, Island Bay Primary School, Wellington, New Zealand
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, New Zealand
Connetics Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
EPMU members at Fletcher Reinforcing, Auckland, New Zealand
West Wallsend Branch, Australian Labor Party
American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Washington DC, United States of America
Independent Schools Education Association (ISEA), New Zealand
International Trade Union Federation - Asia Pacific (ITUC), Singapore
General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) - Christian & Minorities Workforce, Pakistan
Gail May
International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), San Francisco, United States of America
Debbie Carlisle and Dennis Hodgson
Association of University Students, Massey University Branch, New Zealand
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU)
Northern Chemical Workers Union (NCWU), Auckland, New Zealand
MUNZ Timaru Branch
NZEI Kaipara Branch, Auckland, New Zealand
TEU Victoria University Branch, Wellington, New Zealand
Williams Valuations Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
The Professional Trades Union for Prisons, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA), United Kingdom
Te Runanga O Nga Kaimahi Maori CTU, New Zealand
Labour Party New Plymouth Branch, New Zealand
RMTU Port of Napier sub-Branch, New Zealand
NZEI North Shore Branch, New Zealand
Christchurch Central Labour Electorate Committee (LEC), New Zealand
TEU Christchurch Branch, New Zealand
John Eddy
United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union, British Columbia, Canada
Murrays Bay Intermediate School, Auckland, New Zealand
South Pine employees, Nelson, New Zealand
Burns and Ferrall Ltd, New Zealand
PPTA Otago, New Zealand
Judy & Graeme Keall, Levin, New Zealand
United Mine Workers of America, United States of America
Amicus - Amalgamated Engineering & Electrical Union (AEEU), United Kingdom
Transport & General Workers' Union, United Kingdom
CFMEU, Western Australia
Unite the Union, United Kingdom
Rodney Lodge, Warkworth, New Zealand
Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, United Kingdom
NZEI Central Region, Wellington, New Zealand
United Steelworkers Union, Canada
TEU WITT Branch, New Plymouth, New Zealand
TEU EIT Branch, Napier, New Zealand
Unite the Union, West Yorkshire Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union, North East & Yorkshire Region, United Kingdom
Unite the Union, Severnside Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union, Crewe Branch, United Kingdom
Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretaries, Unit the Union, United Kingdom
Kevin Browning, General Secretary, Transport & General Workers' Union, Regional Office, London, United Kingdom
Amicus South West London Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union, Portsmouth Branch, United Kingdom
Unite/Amicus Tamworth Branch, United Kingdom
TMP Saltire, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Unite the Union Bathgate Branch, United Kingdom
Unite/Amicus Norwich Central Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union West London Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union Bournemouth Branch, United Kingdom
Workers at HWE Mining Ltd, Huntly, New Zealand
Unite the Union London & Eastern Region, United Kingdom
Unite the Union Leeds Branch, United Kingdom
Unite the Union Yeovil Branch, United Kingdom
TGWU Kirkby in Ashfield Branch, Notts, United Kingdom
Unite the Union Birmingham South Branch, United Kingdom

+ 36 individuals

EPMU backs move to protect public holidays

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +1300

The EPMU welcomes Labour's announcement today it wants to ensure New Zealand workers get the eleven public holidays they are entitled to, every year, by legislating for it.

"The EPMU welcomes the announcement by Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson that he will introduce a Private Members' Bill to ensure New Zealand workers get the eleven public holidays they are entitled to, every year, by legislating for the holidays for Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day to be taken on a Monday whenever they fall on a weekend," says EPMU assistant national secretary Bill Newson.

"John Key has let down Kiwi workers by failing to grant alternative days for the loss of the Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day public holidays this year," says Bill Newson.

"Around 1,000 Kiwi workers in over 100 companies covered by the trend-setting Metals multi-employer agreement negotiated by the EPMU last year will at least get one extra day this year to compensate for ANZAC Day falling on the same day as the Easter Monday public holiday," says Bill Newson.

"Most Kiwi workers will lose two public holidays this year: one because Waitangi Day falls on a Sunday and the other because ANZAC Day and Easter Monday are on the same day."

"With all the negative employment law changes John Key's government rammed through Parliament late last year, including the unfair 90-day fire-at-will law, you would think they could have done something to show working New Zealanders that they care but they couldn't bring themselves to give back the two days of public holiday that will be lost in 2011."

RNZ Nine to Noon debates the issue with EPMU national secretary Andrew Little

"Blood on the Coal" investigation

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

TV3's "60 Minutes" investigation into safety at the Pike River coal mine was broadcast on 15 December 2010.

You can now watch it online via the following link: Blood on the Coal

EPMU renews call for mine check inspectors after 60 Minutes' "Blood on the Coal" investigation

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

The Government must place the issue of mine check inspectors squarely before the Pike River Commission of Inquiry, the EPMU is saying today following 60 Minutes' "Blood on the Coal" investigation broadcast yesterday evening that uncovered a series of disturbing revelations about safety at the mine.

The investigation found a procedure to contain explosive coal dust was described as inadequate and three months before the explosion that killed 29 men the Department of Labour issued a warning to the company, a series of underground ignitions had occurred in the mine since it opened, there had been interference with gas warning equipment, and there were widespread concerns about an emergency escape route.

"Check inspectors are the last line of defence for health and safety in a coal mine but in New Zealand, unlike Australia and Britain, they were scrapped in 1992 by the then National government," says EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.

"The safety issues uncovered in ‘Blood on the Coal' highlighted that having check inspectors at the Pike River mine might have made the difference between safety and tragedy," says Andrew Little.

"The Minister of Labour, Kate Wilkinson, needs to dust off the work done in 2008 on this and other mine safety issues and put it in front of the Commission. We owe it to the 29 men who died in the Pike River coal mine and the rest of the 7,270 people that work in the mining sector to do this," he says.

"Elected check inspectors were experienced miners with special safety responsibilities and checking functions in mines, but were scrapped despite warnings at the time doing so would risk the sort of disaster that happened at Pike River mine on 19 November."

"The deregulation of health and safety in coal mines in 1992 by the then National government replaced a prescriptive approach that included a mechanism for workers' safety concerns to be aired with an open-ended system in which the workers' voice has been devalued."

"Even in other countries, like Britain and Australia, which introduced less prescriptive overall health and safety legislation, they made sure it was supplemented with detailed regulation for clearly hazardous industries like underground mining."

"The EPMU has campaigned on behalf of miners for the reinstatement of check inspectors since 1992, renewing its call for them in the aftermath of workplace deaths in the Black Reef and Roa mines on the West Coast in 2006. Subsequent changes to the Health and Safety in Employment Act have failed to fill the gap in the system left since then."

"The 2008 review of mine safety ordered by then Minister of Labour Trevor Mallard was on track to carefully examine the case for reintroducing check inspectors, but after a change of government in 2008 the new Minister of Labour, Kate Wilkinson, failed to address the gap in the system and chose not to reintroduce check inspectors."

"It's easy for businesses to say more health and safety regulations create an added cost, but the cost of not doing health and safety properly is to put the lives of workers at risk."

"This is not a time to stand on our digs about the free market, deregulated approach to business and the workplace. It's about a sensible recognition that some workplaces and industries are inherently dangerous and that people working in them are entitled to the best possible protections going."

"The New Zealand mining industry needs to take a ‘safety case' approach to preventing disasters such as the Pike River mine tragedy which entails a thorough investigation or risk assessment involving all workers within a site. Mining licences should only then be issued on the basis of a certified safety case process that is signed off by the union."

"A safety case approach should also be supported by a detailed code of practice such as the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) code issued by the Department of Labour, including regular unannounced inspections by experienced and qualified mines inspectors, and a code of practice for methane draining such as the one adopted in Queensland, Australia."

+ Blood on the Coal

Royal Commission of Inquiry lacks practical health and safety expertise

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

The EPMU is today calling for the appointment of a workplace health and safety practitioner on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River mine disaster.

"The explosions that killed the 29 men in the Pike River coal mine occurred in a workplace so the Royal Commission of Inquiry needs to have expertise in workplace health and safety from a worker's perspective, not just a management perspective," says EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.

"Justice Panckhurst will bring a legal mind to the inquiry and Stewart Bell has solid mining industry experience at a senior level gained in the Queensland mining sector."

"The tax and electoral systems knowledge David Henry brings are not as relevant to the deliberations of the Commission. A working knowledge of industrial health and safety systems would be more appropriate."

"What the Royal Commission lacks is a commissioner who can look at the evidence from such a professional health and safety point of view and ask the right questions about what all the men knew, or ought to have known, and what were the systems in place for raising concerns."

"These aren't just questions of health and safety policies and procedures, they are questions of workplace culture and they need to be understood from the experience of those doing the work, something that a person with a strong professional background in health and safety practice could bring to the work of the Commission."

"At the very least the Commission needs to retain such expertise to assist the inquiry even if it is not as a commissioner."

Sick employees need support, not harassment

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Sickness regulations should ensure that employees are supported on health issues and have time off if required, the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) has said in response to new reports from Treasury about sick leave.

CTU Vice President Richard Wagstaff said: "It is important that people have a clear entitlement to sick leave. This report suggests that the Government should not be forcing through changes that make it more likely that people will come to work when sick."

The Treasury reports quantify the cost of ‘presenteeism' - the unproductive performance of employees feeling obliged to come to work when they are ill - as between $4bn to $8bn per year.

"Allowing employers to unreasonably demand sick notes for a single day's absence is only going to exacerbate the costs of ‘presenteeism'. We should be working towards approaches to productivity that engage workers and create a positive workplace culture, not one of mistrust and suspicion."

"High workforce participation combined with the intensification of work is creating a global trend toward more stress at work. Employee assistance programmes are becoming more and more important. Unreasonable demands for sick notes do not fit in with this approach."

"If you treat workers well they will reward employers with higher discretionary effort. If employers unduly focus on a very small number who take ‘sickies' they end up paying for it through a negative workplace culture and people coming to work when they should not be there."

+ Fairness at Work - a sick joke?

+ Dairy farmer's "90 days" unfair dismissal story

+ Aaron Greave's "90 days" unfair dismissal story