Unions protest at legislative rush for industrial bill

Press, 23 September 1983, Page 7

Unions protest at legislative rush for industrial bill

PA Wellington The Federation of Labour and the Combined State Unions have written letters of protest to the Government seeking an extension to the October 11 deadline for submissions on the Industrial Law Reform Bill. In a letter to the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, the president of the F.0.L., Mr W. J. Knox, said there would be industrial chaos throughout New Zealand when the bill was reported back to Parliament, if the submission deadline were not extended. The Government was intent on rushing legislation through Parliament in order to remove the rights and freedoms of New Zealand trade unionists, said Mr Knox.

In a separate letter to the Minister of State Services, Mr Thomson, the secretary of the C.S.U., Mr Barry Tucker, said it was essential to extend the closing date for submissions on the bill.

“This bill contains provisions which in total represent the most radical change in the operation of unions in New Zealand since the Depression years of the 19305,” said Mr Tucker. The executive director of the Employers’ Federation, Mr J. W. Rowe, said of the deadline, “We have no feel-

ing on the matter." The Public Service Association’s president, Mr Colin Hicks, said that although the association was a voluntary union there were a number of measures which affected it. “It will now be an offence to exert undue influence to encourage public servants to join their union. “As a voluntary union we are always trying to influence others to join in their own interests. Who is going to decide what undue influence is?” Mr Hicks said. He described the bill as the most frightening antiunion measure the country had ever seen.

Organisations involved in the Campaign Against Youth Rates will stage a rally in the grounds of Parliament Buildings tomorrow.

The three-week deadline for submissions on the Industrial Law Reform Bill was “absolutely ridiculous,” said the secretary of the Electrical Workers’ Union, Mr A. J. Neary. The closing date, October 11, was half the usual time allowed and the select committee proposed to sit on only Tuesday and Friday afternoons, he said.

“It’s crazy for a bill of such importance ... it makes a mockery of the whole Parliamentary sys-

tem,” he said. Three weeks was not long enough to digest the 96-page bill. It gave unions no time to consult their members, obtain legal opinions or develop constructive alternatives to the Government’s measures. Mr Neary said restrictions on union activities proposed “in this dreadful bill” were hidden behind talk of restoring the right of choice to workers.

"Voluntary unionism is only a small part of it... it is really the closest the Government could have come to saying ‘We outlaw unions’.” The Government members on the committee — Messrs J. A. Banks (Whangarei), R. M. Gray (Clutha), R. N. McClay (Taupo), and C. B. Townshend (Kaimai) — were all "dedicated antiunionists,” Mr Neary said. Proposed changes to the right of entry for union officials said the employer deduction of union subscriptions were attacks on the organising ability and financial strength of unions, he said.

“If we have no access at reasonable times to our members, no ability to check on their welfare, and safety ... we are no longer a union ... this bill puts unions and officials in leg irons.”