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
The photo below was taken by me in January 2019 at the top of Hawker St in Wellington. It epitomises many of the problems that exist with health and safety management and in particular the need stressed by the Independent Taskforce to change H&S culture. In the last
Yesterday the Supreme Court delivered its long awaited decision in the Uber litigation - Rasier Operations BV v E Tu Incorporated [2025] NZSC 162 [17 November 2025]. Uber’s appeal was dismissed and the decisions of the Employment Court and Court of Appeal that Uber drivers were employees was upheld. The
I have recently been travelling a bit and will be doing so again off and on until December so posting will be a bit sporadic. I have opened comments up for signed up members in case anyone wants to make a comment - if so please be polite etc. I don&
While right-wing libertarians won most battles in the 1990-1991 Employment Contracts Act reforms they lost the one that was perhaps most central to their version of labour law – employment at will. Not only did they lose that battle, they saw the right to take a personal grievance significantly
A brief update on my last post. It has been pointed out to me that there was a second case where the Authority fixed a collective agreement: the details are reported in Reunited Employees Association Incorporated v Nelmac Limited [2021] NZERA 530 which was upheld in Reunited Employees Association Incorporated
In my last post relating to the proposal for binding arbitration in the ongoing collective bargaining between Te Whata Ora and the ASMS I stated that ‘For completeness it should also be noted that the Employment Relations Authority does have limited powers to fix terms and conditions if there has
Last week the Minister of Health, Simeon Brown, wrote to both Te Whata Ora and the ASMS calling on the two parties to conclude their long-running dispute over a new collective agreement by agreeing to settle the dispute by binding arbitration – allowing a third party to decide the terms
In a submission to the Education and Workforce select committee representatives of Uber have not only asked that New Zealand workers be stripped of their rights but that this be done retrospectively. Such a submission is probably unique in New Zealand employment law, and very unusual generally. Even the Government’
Law, Labour and Life is a reincarnation of a blog I created several years ago to comment on a previous period of attacks on the legal rights and protections afforded to workers in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Political developments under the current government suggest that it might be timely to revive
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