Unfair Pay Agreements
The NZ Initiative released:
The Initiative’s July 2019 report, Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour, demonstrated that New Zealand’s current labour market settings have been working very well for labour. Unemployment is low compared with our OECD peers. Labour market participation rates are extremely high. And in the nearly three-decade period since New Zealand’s labour markets were freed up, New Zealand has had the third-highest rate of employment growth in the OECD.
Despite claims to the contrary in the Discussion Paper, the Initiative demonstrated in its Work in Progress report that:
The share of GDP going to workers has not fallen overall since New Zealand’s labour markets were freed in 1991. In fact, it has risen. As a result, market income inequality has fallen in New Zealand since the early 1990s.
Wage growth has not lagged behind productivity growth
Wages have not fallen as a result of a race-to-the-bottom in any industry. Indeed, wages in every wage decile have risen.
So the economic case for FPAs is not there. So why is Labour desperate to do these?
A system of fair pay agreements will place unions in the box seat, with workers compelled to have unions represent them in negotiations for a fair pay agreement even if they do not belong to a union.
“It is little wonder the Council of Trade Unions has so vocally advocated introducing FPAs since the working group’s report was released last year,” Roger Partridge said.
This is about funding the Labour Party. Labour passes a law forcing every single employee in an entire industry to fund a union, and in turn that union donates huge amounts of money to Labour as thanks.