Henare bill seeks to fix problem that doesn't exist

26 February, 2010

The EPMU this week labelled National MP Tau Henare's member's bill on secret ballots for strikes as a waste of time and suggested he'd be better using his time in Parliament to do something worthwhile for working Kiwis.

The bill, which was pulled out of the members' ballot this week, seeks to legally require strike votes to be held by secret ballot, despite the fact that secret ballots are already standard practice.

The EPMU's Rules already state: "No strike shall take place unless the question has been submitted to a secret ballot of those members who would become parties to the strike if it proceeded."

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says Henare's bill shows how out of touch he is with unions and their members.

"Tau's ideas about unions using stand-over tactics might reflect on his time as a union official more than twenty years ago but the current generation of union leaders show much greater respect for member democracy.

"The bill gives the impression of Tau Henare doing something when in fact he is doing nothing. The fact is modern unions already require secret ballots for strike action and that's why it's written into our union rules.

"If Tau had any interest in the needs of union members and other working Kiwis he'd be backing legislation that made a real difference like Darien Fenton's Redundancy Protection Bill, rather than wasting time and taxpayers' money trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist."

Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway said at a national union meeting yesterday there was a brief discussion on secret ballots for strikes. Unions decided to support the Bill as it largely reflects current practice.

 "However", said Conway, "unions are critical of the lack of balance in the bill and believe it must be changed to also require employers to follow democratic procedures including a secret ballot of shareholders prior to a lockout".