Read news releases and research updates from the November 2017 newsletter.
Sue Ryall, Manager, CLEW.
The Opening of Parliament last week in Wellington and the Speech from the Throne revealed an ambitious and ‘aspirational’ programme by the incoming Government. A number of changes are heralded for workplaces with a number of them to be in effect in 2018.
In general, the focus for the government is sustainable economic development, lifting wages and reducing inequality.
Gordon Anderson, Professor of Law, Victoria University of Wellington.
The formation of the Labour-led coalition government is likely to be strongly felt in the area of labour law and labour relations. The promised reforms in the first 100 days are perhaps predictable and essentially involve restoring the status quo ante, taking the law back to where it was left when Labour lost office. Those reforms are important and the reversal of some of National’s reforms are also symbolic: the repeal of the Hobbit law makes it clear that industries should not have personal exemptions carved out of labour law; the right to enter workplaces is important not for unions but the workers they service, a point that is often lost sight of. That reform, and the removal of the ability to deduct pay for non-stoppage strikes, make the point that workers have rights and that the ethos of master and servant law should be left in the past.
The interesting question will be how far beyond this Labour is prepared to go.– The Employment Relations Act (ERA) was far from revolutionary and Labour’s reluctance to undertake more radical reforms when last in power meant that many of the laudable objects of the Act were never achieved.
New Zealand’s VET policies and practices have been subject to regular reform, the purported objective of which has been to reconcile that system with perceptions of skills deficiencies in the labour market. Closer examination of those reforms, however, suggests the shifts in the country’s VET policy over the past twenty years have been driven more by political ideology than economic necessity. Crucially in this regard is that New Zealand’s government is no longer tasked with being a direct provider of training and apprenticeships, in terms of either design or delivery of those programs. Rather, government’s role has been limited to setting the policy framework and provide the necessary funding incentives and policy infrastructure, through various government agencies, to stimulate industry training.
The Labour Party included apprenticeships and work-based training in its pre-election commitment to reduce the cost of post-school study. Labour also affirmed during the campaign its commitment to minimising skills shortages across all sectors in New Zealand.
Peter Kiely, Partner, KielyThompsonCaisley.
Two of the cases in the latest edition of Employment Agreements: Bargaining Trends and Employment Law Update 2016/2017 have been appealed to the Supreme Court and the judgments have been delivered. The New Zealand Basing decision was reversed, while the AFFCO decision was upheld.
Transforming Workplace Relations in New Zealand 1976-2016 (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2017) edited by Gordon Anderson with Alan Geare, Erling Rasmussen, and Margaret Wilson.
Published to mark the 40th anniversary of the New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, this book a wide range of academic commentators reflect on this revolution in labour relations and speculate on the future of work relationships in a world again being challenged by newly evolving forms of work and employment. Contributors include both those who lived through the last 40 years as well as those who, in another 40 years, may again look back over a much changed employment landscape.
The book will be published on 9 November. Further details and for on-line purchases see attached document.
The CLEW 2018 seminar series launches on 1 March 2018, 9 am–1 pm, at Victoria University (Rutherford House) with a seminar to explore some of the key themes included in the book. The seminar will be opened by the new Minister for Workplace Relations, Iain Lees-Galloway and former Chief Judge of the Employment Court, Graeme Colgan, will chair the morning seminar. If you would like to register your interest and receive the full programme and registration information directly, email clew-events@vuw.ac.nz.
