Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill

I am speaking to my proposed amendment to insert new clause 5A, which deals with the issue about when a society, under the Employment Relations Act, is entitled to be registered as a union. We went into this in some detail in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. We explored the issue, as I referred to in my earlier speech, of how the objective of the member the Hon Tau Henare could be reached by simply requiring an amendment to the Employment Relations Act that would say that union rules must have “a requirement that a secret ballot of its members who are employed by the same or different employers … and who would become a party to the strike be held before any strike is undertaken.” This is a very, very simple approach to it. It meets, as I said, the objective of the member, as stated in his speeches, in the things he said on the introduction of the bill, and in the things he said in the select committee, of requiring that unions hold a secret ballot. It does meet that objective.

What the Committee may not understand is that under the existing Employment Relations Act unions do have to be registered. They are incorporated societies, but, even so, they have to be registered as a union. This came in with the Employment Relations Act 2000; before that they were just incorporated societies. So, first of all, they have to have a whole set of rules that are not unreasonable, are democratic, are not unfairly discriminatory or unfairly prejudicial, and are not contrary to law. An important part of section 14 is that the society is independent of, and is constituted and operates at arm’s length from, any employer. As I said, section 14, which this new clause 5A amends, was inserted in the Employment Relations Act 2000 when the Act came into being. The Government has been in power now for nearly 3 years, and it has not sought to change it.

We have had a lot of lectures tonight about democracy and freedom of association. Interestingly, what section 14 does is require unions to be democratic and have rules, but it does not require incorporations to have a similar, matching set of rules. So there is a higher test on unions under the Act than on employers, and that is very interesting. However, unions have accepted that. I know for a fact how it works, because, as members know, I am a former union leader. I know what it requires. If unions want to change their rules, they have to have meetings of members—annual general meetings. In my union I used to have 53 meetings to try to provide an opportunity for every employee, for every union member throughout the country. We took it very, very seriously. Although a statutory declaration of a union is required, the Registrar of Unions can check the rules of the union. A high test came in with the Employment Relations Act in 2000 whereby unions have to meet these requirements.

My amendment to introduce new clause 5A simply adds to that by saying that one of the things that must be in a union’s rules is a process for determining a secret ballot. It is a very democratic process. Rather than imposing it with a really heavy-handed approach, as the member’s bill does, it simply says the members of the union, who pay their fees, who are entitled to come along to meetings to determine these things, must vote to determine what the process will be should there be strike action. As I have already said, and as my colleagues have said, most unions already have rules like this, actually. This is not a new thing. But my amendment would mean that the objectives of the member in the chair, Tau Henare, were met, by ensuring that there were provisions in a union’s rules, which it is required to follow.

As Carol Beaumont has said, under the good-faith provisions of the Act unions are required to follow the rules in good faith. There is a good-faith relationship between union members and their unions, and it can be enforced, as well. Union members have remedies, should the union not act in good faith. If we look at the Employment Relations Act, as Carol Beaumont said, we see that good-faith relationships are required between employers and employees, between unions and employers, but also between unions and their union members. So the union’s rules can be enforced if the union acts in bad faith and does not follow the rules. Union members have other remedies, as well, under the Act.

The new clause 5A is a compromise amendment. Tau Henare may think he might get some votes in Te Atatū from his bill—he is holding up that nasty little blue leaflet he has got there—but I do not think it will win many votes for him. This is a very reasonable and fair amendment. I am very disappointed. We put it up at the select committee, and I was very disappointed that the member did not accept it. I genuinely tried to reach out to the member, to find out what he was trying to fix—what the mischief was that he was trying to fix. I genuinely tried to help him find a solution to what he thought was a problem.

💬 Hon Steve Chadwick: Too nice.

I know; I am very, very nice. But I accepted it. The member has been around a long time, and I accepted it in good faith.

💬 Hon Member: What did he do?

Well, he rejected it. This amendment was put to the select committee, and he rejected it. He voted it down. The National members voted it down. It was put up as a compromise. We sought advice from the officials.

This amendment is a very easy way of fixing this issue. It will not be easy for unions, because they will still have to go through a process of changing their rules. They will still have to go to their members, who will vote on it, but it stops all the other bureaucratic and compliance nonsense that this bill imposes not only on unions but also on employers, because employers will now be checking up on this. There is a cost there. It is a silly thing. My amendment is an easy way out of the dilemma, and I think Labour is being extremely reasonable in this proposed amendment. I am not sure how unions feel about it; I have talked to them a little about it.

💬 Lynne Pillay: You’ve taken a punt.

I have taken a punt. I know that unions will have to do some work, and it will cost them money, because they will have to have meetings, change the rules, and that sort of thing. But it is a fair way out of the mischief that the member seeks to solve. Union rules, under my amendment, will have to have a process for conducting a secret ballot if there is to be a strike of members. As I have said, for lots of unions there will not be a problem, because they already have a process in their rules, but it is a very, very simple way out of a problem. It gets past the “hammer to crack a tiny little nut” approach that the member’s bill takes, and it achieves the purpose of the bill—

The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to report progress.

Progress reported.

Report adopted.

The House adjourned at 9.55 p.m.