Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 40 comments
Categories: john key, workers' rights -
Tags: john key, workers' rights
There are some out there claiming Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop” is out of character.
Now I’m always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and we know actions speak louder than words so I thought I’d have a look at Key’s actions. And what actions would speak louder than an MP’s voting record? After all, legislation is what they’re there to do.
So let’s have a look:
Abolishing youth rates: voted no
Paid parental leave: voted no
Four weeks annual leave: voted no
A minimum of time and a half for working public holidays: voted no
Protections for vulnerable workers: voted no
Flexible working hours: voted no
Working for Families: voted no
KiwiSaver: voted no
While that doesn’t look too good it’s possible that National could have been simply cynically voting against the government rather than directly voting against better lives for New Zealand workers. Well, maybe.
It turns out the National Party has been pro-active in the arena of work rights in the last couple of years – they’ve been pro-actively trying to reduce them. In 2006 the party drove up a member’s bill that would have seen anybody who started a new job have no work rights at all for the first 90 days of that job – that’s over 100,000 people in any given year who could face getting the sack for no reason and with no come-back. And as we saw from the last time the Nats were in power, when you strip away work rights wages drop.
So Key says wages need to drop. He and his party vote against every piece of legislation that might raise them and try to put legislation in place that would lead to wages dropping (it’s well worth noting that their 90 day no-rights bill is still core policy). Misquoted? I think not.
I must say it is good to see John say something he actually believes and that his party is working so hard to bring into action. And, as Cullen pointed out yesterday in the house, has worked so hard to achieve in the past.
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Well, would you look at that – I’m wrong. I suggest you bookmark it for later TDS ‘cos it happens very, very infrequently. I s’pose I should restate by previous comment in light of this information:
“I agree with TDS we need 6 weeks annual leave – the French get six. Are we worth less than French workers?” Is that better?
Oh and Francis? You’ll never get a real holiday because the party owns you. Vote for who you want to. Now, to get back to the question you have never answered – what do you think should be done to raise wages? C’mon bro, you’ve got time to spend on research (or on ordering research from the unit) how about a little hypothetical policy?
That should be “my” not “by” – y’d think I had a headcold or something…
Captcha: “merchant. Recalling” – I think I can hear John calling your name Francis…
I asked TDS: “Does if bother you, TDS, that National voted against and opposes paid maternity leave, four weeks annual leave, extra pay on public holidays and so on?’
Dean replied: I know it’s derailing to a certain degree and I know I’m interjecting here, but that certainly doesn’t bother me.
I see you went through them item by item upthread, and indeed it doesn’t bother you Dean. Good for you.
Seems to bother TDS though, from the way he’s thrashed about on this issue, and the way he’s avoided answering this direct question three times now. And I rather think that it would bother a lot of people who currently think that they are National supporters…
Dean, stop being deliberately obtuse, I’m not sure why you’re trying so hard to display a lack of comprehension for my benefit but I assure you it’s not needed.
I’ll keep it real simple like.
When there was a proposal to raise annual leave to four wees, I had a think about it. Compared it to other countries and such. Considered that it was implemented during a time of growth and low unemployment, and that business tax cuts were also likely in the near future.
There are a lot of things to take into consideration, sorry if you weren’t able to comprehend that, I thought that saying my experience “helped me form my opinion” would have made it clear enough, but I’ll see what I can do to make it easier for you net time.
I don’t know what the best level is. If you’re capable of makinging such a leap of imagination, try and follow me here: More leave is better for employees. As our society becomes more productive (i.e. productivity per worker increases – and this is actually continuingly rising, believe it or not) society is able to relax the working conditions for workers.
If you have any knowledge (from books and the like, please don’t get confused and start thinking I am claiming I am more than 200 years old) of what ‘employment’ was like for people in the 17th and 18th centuries, you’ll be aware that labour laws, by and large, did not exist. This was, in part, due to low labour productivity.
This has changed now, and our productivity affords us the ability to reduce work intensity without a significantly diminished output. With me so far?
Doubtful, but I’ll mention anyways, that labour laws need to be continuously reassessed to ensure they provide a good balance between the requirements of employees and employers.
Now as said, I’m not an expert in current labour best practice. A government does many things, and unfortunately I’m unable to track them all and dedicate time to research them all. I don’t have much of an opinion on the Kaingaroa Forest settlements underway at present, for example. Sorry if you feel let down.
In this case, I can only gather you are an expert (or you’re just talking out your arse). Please explain why an extra weeks’ annual leave will place an unreasonable demand upon employers, given that we have a strongly growing economy, businesses have received a tax cut, and Labour had actively reduced ‘red tape’ leading to New Zealand becoming one of the easiestplaces to do business in the world.
We can carry on all we like people but the fact remains that Key’s Freudian Slip tells us what everyone already knows. That’s Key, that’s National.
Which means that unless National/National clones win first-past-the-post, hardly assured 8-9 months out, then National is in real trouble. Who is truly satisfied right now that the Winnie phenomenon is dead, or that the Greens won’t improve significantly ?
And then there’s the Maori Party.
The flakiness Key is manifesting does not shape as an efficacious tool for coalition/arrangement making.