AUGUST 2000 VOL. 01 NO. 08
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"WORKERS' NEWS" IS EDITED FOR LABOUR ACTIVISTS IN THE ASIA / PACIFIC REGION.
A MONTHLY BULLETIN ABOUT SELECTED LABOUR ISSUES IN AOTEAROA / NEW ZEALAND.

WORKERS' NEWS

PO BOX 13-367

WELLINGTON

AOTEAROA / NZ

FAX: +64 4 973-6372

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New industrial law from October 2nd.

The new Employment Relations Act was finally passed into law on 16 August, and will come into effect on 2 October.

The law was introduced by the new Labour/Alliance coalition government and passed with the support of the Green Party.

Unions and employers will be required to negotiate in "good faith" according to a detailed code yet to be developed. However there is strong disagreement between employers and unions about what "good faith" will mean in practice.

Striking workers cannot be replaced by newly hired labour except for "health and safety" reasons, but "volunteers" will be allowed to do the work of striking workers. The law does not allow strikes for social or political causes or in sympathy with other striking workers.

     Union members covered by collective agreements will be entitled to take paid union education leave.

Merger of two union federations

     New Zealand’s two union federations have begun a process leading to their merger.
      Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson and Trade Union Federation president Maxine Gay said the passing of the Employment Relations Act meant the best way of advancing their interests was with a united front.
      In the early 1990’s the predominantly blue collar unions broke away from the CTU partly in response to what they regarded as its meek opposition to the 1991 Employment Contracts Act. Union density in Aotearoa/New Zealand was above 45% before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act, dropping to less than 19% in the following nine years.
      The TUF, formed in 1993, is about one tenth the size of the CTU which has an estimated 240 - 250,000 members. The amalgamated organisation will be known as the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. It will have a combined and growing membership of about 330,000.
      A "unification conference" will be held in October next year to finalise the new arrangement.

Formal inquiry into railway workers' deaths

Excessive overtime and shortage of staff were affecting the safety of rail workers and the public, an inquiry into occupational health and safety at Tranz Rail was told.

The inquiry was ordered after the deaths of four Tranz Rail workers and a ferry seaman in 12 months.

Shorter shifts for railway workers and an improved vigilance system had been promised when single-manning for most railway locomotives was introduced. However drivers now worked shifts of 10 hours 45 minutes.

Some drivers had to go home in rental cars in some cases driving for several hours after running a train for seven or eight hours, and three had died in fatigue related crashes.

Other safety issues identified at the inquiry included:

Rail yards too small for wide-bodied wagons, making the gap between some
Workers’ reluctance to raise safety concerns for fear of being labelled
Rosters requiring some staff to work up to 12 days without a day off.
A locomotive floor so rusty the driver fell through it.
Track gangs reduced from 16 to two, with more track to maintain.
Faulty hand rails.

Tranz Rail workers had a lower standard of protection than other workers because the 1989 Transport Services Licencing Act was less rigorous than the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

The chances of a Tranz Rail worker being killed were about one in 2000, compared with about one in 16,666 in Britain.

Workers may get right to prosecute employers for safety breaches

Workers may be able to prosecute their employers for breaches of workplace health and safety under changes being considered by the government.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has the sole right to prosecute employers under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. If OSH decided not to prosecute, then victims, families or unions are barred from taking their own cases against OSH or demanding a judicial review of its decision.

OSH, a division of the Labour Department, has been heavily criticised for taking too few prosecutions against employers who breach health and safety law. In 1994 it took 517 prosecutions, but only 172 in 1998 - 99.

In the United States 20% of all health and safety prosecutions were taken by someone other than the government agency.

The proposed change is part of a broader review of workplace health and safety announced in July. It comes amid a high profile inquiry into safety at the nation’s privatised rail network, ordered after the deaths of four Tranz Rail workers and a ferry seaman in 12 months.

Source material for this issue of "WORKERS’ NEWS" includes: The Evening Post and The Dominion. Further information about these news stories can be requested from "WORKERS’ NEWS" (as above).