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New Zealand employers running ‘active misinformation campaign’ on Fair Pay Act
TONY BURKE explains how new collective bargaining plans are being misrepresented by vested interests
Kirk Hope, Chief Executive of BusinessNZ [Tertiary Education Union / Creative Commons]

IN New Zealand the Labour government is planning to introduce a nationwide collective bargaining system known as the Fair Pay Act.

Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood, who is piloting the plans, has accused BusinessNZ — the country’s employers’ body — of running an “active misinformation” campaign after an ILO committee found the law was not inconsistent with international conventions.

BusinessNZ argued before an ILO committee that fair pay agreements would constitute compulsory arbitration in breach of ILO Convention 98 on the right to organise and join unions and bargain collectively.

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