The answer seems to be yes. With an election coming up ACT is ramping up its attacks on working New Zealanders on the basis of unsubstantiated claims that this will increase productivity. I thought I might share a couple of things on this topic that I have come across recently.
Apologies for not posting for awhile but here I am again. A number of useful legislative reforms to protect workers have been passed or in the process of being passed - usually originating in a private members bill - wage theft, modern slavery and the right to discuss you remuneration. In this
The 114th International Labour Conference 2026 adopted a new convention; Convention 193 Decent Work in the Platform Economy, 2026. In the vote for adoption the New Zealand's Minister for Workplace Relations, Brooke van Velden, distinguished herself by instructing the New Zealand Government’s delegates to vote against adoption
The New Zealand Initiative in a document Prescriptions for Prosperity 2026 has provided a helpful list (or more cynically a list of instructions) for a conservative government to further shift employment costs on to workers. Amongst other things these include slashing the minimum wage for under 20s – or in the
The old saying that “"It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope that destroys you” pretty much sums up the feelings of anyone voting Labour since Muldoon announced the snap election in 1984. Unless something changes significantly in the next six
Yesterday the International Court of Justice released its Decision on the Right To Strike Under ILO Convention No. 87. The Court concluded unanimously that (a) it had jurisdiction to give the advisory opinion requested by the ILO Governing Body, and (b) that it should comply with the request for an
I suppose one shouldn’t expect much from The Post in its labour relations reporting but the current story “Wellington council’s $200k-plus club quietly keep personal grievance pay” or “Wellington council’s $200k-plus club quietly keep ‘golden handshake’ pay”, depending on which of the two misleading headlines
As part of a fleeting return to academic life, I have been looking at the Labour chapters in the NZ-EU FTA for a lecture in an international trade law course. The WTO of course prefers to turn a blind eye to labour issues. It sees these as a problem
As I was finishing this piece news came out that Brooke van Veldon, probably the worst Minister for Employment in living memory, has decided to retire from politics. Another blog has helpfully provided a summary of the destruction she managed to wreak in her short period in government. It would,
A somewhat belated welcome to 2026 after a few weeks in Japan and getting myself moving again. I thought I would start the New, and more importantly, Election Year with a reminder of the vital role trade unions play in ensuring a fair distribution of wealth and income in societies.
Posting will be a bit lighter than usual for the next month or so. However as an end of year bit of cheer and possible interest if you didn't know already - the first recorded strike in history took place in Egypt some 3,200 years ago! The event
Readers will not have missed what seems to be a co-ordinated attack on the holiday entitlements of New Zealand workers imbued with the underlying theme that we are all lazy work dodgers. That New Zealanders work some of the longest hours in the OECD was not a dominating feature