Business advocacy attacks ERA Bill

The head of a prominent business advocacy has taken aim at the proposed Employment Relations Act Bill, saying it could give excessive and undue rights to unions across New Zealand.

“It would force employers and employees into collective agreements against their will,” said Kirk Hope, chief executive of BusinessNZ. “This is a breach of international conventions that say bargaining should always be voluntary.”

Hope was addressing the select committee considering the Bill when he argued the legislation is an attack on the rights of non-union workers.

“It would force collective coverage on people who weren’t union members,” he said. “For example, all it would take is two people in a retail store to join a union and this would let unions claim collective coverage of the whole retail chain.”

Hope also argues that the Bill would let union officials into any workplace without permission to recruit members, would breach employees’ privacy by requiring employers to pass on their details to the unions, and would reduce the chance of getting a job using job trials.

Overall, Hope said the Bill would strip flexibility from many workplaces, increase costs and make it harder to employ people.

“The modern workplace relies on flexibility and collaboration and trust for its success,” he said. “Unfortunately this Bill would reduce flexibility, collaboration and trust.”