Fair Pay Agreements The Government has recently put the Fair Pay Agreements Bill before Parliament. When passed, Fair Pay laws will set minimum standards across whole industries for better pay, hours of work, health and safety, training, and worker input in decision making. The purpose of the Fair Pay Agreements Bill is explained at the beginning of the Bill: The objective is to improve labour market outcomes in New Zealand by enabling employers and employees to collectively bargain industry-wide or occupation-wide minimum employment terms. While New Zealand’s labour market has some strengths, it also has systemic weaknesses. These include a significant prevalence of jobs with inadequate working conditions, low wages, and low labour productivity. For example, Māori, Pacific peoples, young people, and people with disabilities are over-represented in jobs where low pay, job security, health and safety, and upskilling are significant issues. Barriers to good labour market outcomes are particularly prevalent for people who fall within more than 1 of those groups. The Bill will help address these issues. Fair Pay Agreements will enable workers and their unions to negotiate a set of core minimum conditions for a whole industry. Nobody will be able to be employed in that industry on anything less, stopping a ‘race to the bottom’. Unions will still be able to negotiate collective agreements for their members over and above these minimum standards. Once union and employer advocates have sat down at the bargaining table and come to a proposed settlement, they will take these back to the people they represent. For unions, that means taking a proposed settlement to the whole workforce – including non-members – and taking a vote where at least a simple majority of people will be required to settle a new Fair Pay Agreement. If negotiations break down, instead of industrial action, a process of compulsory arbitration will take place, whereby an independent person considers the claims and arguments of both union and employer advocates and makes a binding decision on a new Fair Pay Agreement. As the bill goes through Parliament, submissions will be considered and some changes will be made. It is likely the new law will be in place before the end of 2022.
NZ shipping can resolve supply chain crisis By Craig Harrison National Secretary The ongoing shipping and supply chain crisis needs a clear plan and immediate action. We see daily reports about supply chain congestion. Covid-19 was the trigger that exposed the underlying weakness of the global supplychain. New Zealand’s overreliance on global shipping has placed us in a difficult position. We have heard a lot about these problems. The global forces driving the situation are not going away. What New Zealand can do is adapt and modify our approach to shipping. We’re in a transition between two approaches to the supply chain. For the past 30 plus years, the prevailing mindset was the market would provide, there was no role for planning, and there was no need for New Zealand shipping. This idea has been revealed as a bad mistake. Where to now? Industry players admit there is a significant problem. Recent Government reports confirm what the issues are, but only discuss underwriting, not significant investment. The global outlook for supply chain performance will not improve in the short to medium term. Ships are being delayed around the world, and when they get to New Zealand, they are already behind on their sailing schedule. New Zealand ports need to ensure that ships are serviced on time. Until the problems are resolved at the Ports of Auckland, and it returns to the throughput achieved prior to the automation project, local congestion will continue to impact on the New Zealand freight movement.
The effect on the maritime industry will vary and the Maritime Union is currently looking at how these new laws could help improve wages and conditions. THE MARITIMES 30
