They are competing by cutting labour costs rather than improving quality or technology. Craig Renney, director of policy at the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, says bus drivers are a good example. “It got to the point where we couldn’t get bus drivers, we were importing them from overseas, but no one was getting a better service,” he told me.
If a tenth of workers who would be covered or 1,000 of them say they want a fair pay agreement, union and employer representatives will negotiate one and put it to a vote. If there is ultimate stalemate, the Employment Relations Authority will decide the terms. But employers’ groups are fiercely opposed. They say fair pay agreements will reduce flexibility and drag New Zealand back to the 1970s at a time when they are already grappling with inflation.Kirk Hope, chief executive of BusinessNZ, the main business lobby group, has argued fair pay agreements will “take away control from Kiwi workers and give it to faceless officials in [the capital] Wellington”.
New Zealand’s attempt to perform a handbrake turn in its labour market will be closely watched by other countries with similar problems. If it leads to better quality jobs and more constructive labour relations, expect to see calls for the model to be replicated.
Essential workers are due a substantial pay rise & improvements to their working conditions
There are Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs) for construction workers in Ireland which guarantee pay d conditions Pay & conditions must not be used as a cost cutting measure in a race to the bottom SEOs will stop good employers from being undercut by bad ones