Nats show their contempt for working Kiwis

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, May 6th, 2010 - 6 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, unemployment, Unions - Tags: ,

“This is a question of basic fairness, and it’s the Kiwi way is to treat people fairly, particularly when they’re vulnerable” – Darien Fenton

Yesterday, Fenton’s Redundancy Protection Bill was voted down by National and ACT. National showed its utter contempt for workers by having David Bennett lead their side of the debate.

The last time we heard anything out of the male Bennett it was opposing the Youth Minimum Wage Act – a bizarre, frothing speech in which he said we live in a hierarchical society and that needs to be protected, there is a difference between people who “sit at the front and the back” (Bennett has remained firmly on the backbench), and young people don’t want to be paid well.

Bennett was no better, no saner, yesterday.

He claimed that redundancy protection was a stealth move to make everyone a union member. If anything, the bill would have made being a union member less attractive: 80% of union members have redundancy, 80% of non-union workers don’t – so, this would have mainly benefited non-union workers.

He said that setting minimum standards would hold everyone back – people would only get the minimum. Yeah, David, just like the minimum wage means everyone gets only paid the minimum, eh?

He said that this denied people the choice to negotiate the terms of their own contracts. What a dream world these Tories live in. How many people honestly get to negotiate their terms? You and I know that in reality most workers don’t negotiate anything they have to take what the boss offers if they want a job.

Why doesn’t National have the respect for workers to debate this issue seriously and present their real reasons for denying workers a basic right that their brothers and sisters in nearly every other developed country have?

The reality is that National is the bosses’ party. The entire reason for their existence is to make the capitalist class wealthier. They do this in a short-sighted way by always making sure the biggest slice of the economic pie goes to the elite, which means keeping labour costs down.

6 comments on “Nats show their contempt for working Kiwis ”

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  1. True Blue 1
    6 May 2010 at 10:57 am

    Labour had 9 long years to implement this policy and did nothing. Very rich for them now to put this bill forward. – Fail

  2. Olwyn 2
    6 May 2010 at 11:36 am

    So much for the “aspiration” this lot used to talk about. Darien works very hard for workers’ rights, and I am glad that we have her in parliament.

  3. Rex Widerstrom 3
    6 May 2010 at 2:24 pm

    Said it before, I’ll say it again.

    Regardless of the issue any party which votes down a Bill on First Reading – thus denying citizens the chance to make submissions and to rally support / opposition to the proposal – is anti-democratic, arrogant, and cowardly and deserves to be hurled from office by a public which has an inalienable right to a say in their own future, which that party has just denied them.

    (Remember that, Labour, when your turn comes again).

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1
      6 May 2010 at 11:56 pm

      Meh, too late at night.

      EDIT:
      Although I’ll have to admit that no government can address all issues at the same time.

  4. millsy 4
    7 May 2010 at 8:05 am

    The trouble is, the likes of Bennett have spent their lives encossed in the position of privilige. It is only when they will truly experience being left high and dry with nothing to tide them over that they will come to support measures like these.

    Personally I think if companies feel they need to cut someone loose, then they have a moral duty to pay *something* out to them

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