What is to be done?

• Tane
• 15 years ago
• Categories: labour, maori party, national/act government, workers' rights
• Tags: paula bennett, rahui katene, sealord

Kudos to the Maori Party’s Rahui Katene for using her position to highlight the situation at Sealord in Parliament today. But it’s Paula Bennett’s response that got me thinking:

Rahui Katene: Is the Minister aware that the Māori shareholders of Sealord attended the Prime Minister’s Job Summit last Friday, and what plans does the Government have for working with companies to make them responsible employers?

Hon PAULA BENNETT: Yes, I am aware that they were there. I am not in the business of telling businesses how to run their businesses. What I am here to do is support those workers and those employees who need that assistance via Work and Income.

Simply shrugging your shoulders and sending working families to the dole queue frankly isn’t good enough.

When 180 people’s jobs are at risk and another 400 are being told to take a $70 pay cut or lose theirs, maybe it’s time we did have a Government that’s “in the business of telling businesses how to run their business”.

If one thing’s for sure it’s that a Government like that won’t come out of the Labour Party in its current incarnation. So what is to be done?