Kia ora koutou E tū members.
The year of fight back draws to a close, but the fight back does not.
The headwinds we face are not dying away.
From the removal of Fair Pay Agreement laws this time last year, to plans to take work rights away from people by allowing employers to label them as contractors, to budget settings that take money out of the economy and drive up unemployment, the actions of this Government continue to work against the interests of workers and our communities.
Adding to these factors is the divisive and destructive Treaty Principles Bill. This bill would unilaterally change te Tiriti — an agreement between two parties — without any discussion or agreement from one party. This is equivalent to an employer suddenly deciding to rewrite a collective agreement without negotiating with the union. The bill would also pave the way to mass privatisation of public assets and public goods in this country. The principles of te Tririti help protect us from corporate interests coming in and extracting profits from essentials like water and health, and from making those services unaffordable for people who live here.
That is what we have to fight against. But what do we fight for?
We fight for decent work. We fight for decent incomes, where all workers receive at least the Living Wage, so they can live with dignity and participate in society; for job security, where work and the future of work is designed so that no one is left behind; for a quality work environment, where workers are safe and healthy at work, enjoy a positive culture and have access to skills development for their whole lives; and for a workers’ voice, where workers have a say in all the decisions that aff ect them, are free to organise in independent trade unions, and grow in confidence.
This magazine shows some of the many ways members across E tū are standing up and fighting for decent work. You can see us standing together with the whole union movement at Maranga Ake hui in October. Thousands of workers and our allies are standing up for a better country. Many people then asked, “what’s next?” and you can also see us supporting the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in November.
We also stand up for decent work through our campaign to transform care. In November, care workers in E tū handed over our report Transforming Care, calling for transformation in the value of care, standards of care, and funding of care.
E tū delegates in our Engineering, Infrastructure and Extractives Industry Council made their voices heard in a symposium at Parliament on the creation of a Just Transition. Our delegates represent workers in industries that will be at the centre of a transformation of our economy to net zero emissions. In any transition we must ask, who benefits, who pays and who decides? Workers must benefit, we must not be the people who pay, and we must be part of the decisions.
So, what next?
One vital thing you can do before 5 January is to make a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill. Whether you submit because of the harm you see it doing to Māori, or because you believe in the integrity of honouring agreements, or because you want to save our country from privatisation, or some combination of all three or another reason, please visit www.etu.nz/treatysubmission and add your voice.