Party said the bill ensures people will have access to union representation, support
New Zealand's Green Party is seeking to make union membership the default setting under a proposal that it plans to take to the election.
The proposal, called the Automatic Union Membership Members' Bill, will amend the Employment Relations Act to automatically make new employees union members.
Teanau Tuiono, Green Party Workplace Relations spokesperson, said the bill will strengthen workers' collective voice and ensure more people will have access to representation and support that unions provide.
"Individuals will still have the right to opt out if they choose to. The only difference is that workers would be opting out rather than opting in," Tuiono said.
"The default should be that workers are represented and backed, not the other way around."
Policy to be taken to election
Marama Davidson, co-leader of the Green Party, said this is a policy that the party will be taking into the election.
"But we want to act now if the current government will come to the table to back workers," Davidson said.
"Over the last four decades, the governments working in the interests of big businesses have again and again undermined worker solidarity and union power, and Luxon's government is one of the worst examples of this, with their attacks on health and safety, leave provisions, not to mention pay equity."
The proposal to make union membership the default setting will bring the country's employment laws closer to the settings before the Employments Contracts Act in 1991, which the Green Party said decimated union and worker rights.
"Being in a union was once the norm in New Zealand's employment system. Right now, we should be strengthening collective bargaining and ensuring working people have the tools they need to secure fair pay, safe workplaces, and decent conditions," Davidson said.
Union membership proposal welcomed
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) welcomed the party's amendment bill.
"This Bill is a practical, common-sense step that would make it easier for working people to access the benefits of union membership and collective bargaining," said NZCTU acting president Rachel Mackintosh.
"Too many workers currently miss out on union membership not because they don't want it, but because of practical barriers when they start a new job. Automatic enrolment, with the right to opt out at any time, removes those barriers while fully protecting individual choice."
A recent poll from the NZCTU showed that 65% of employees would remain union members if automatically enrolled.
"Union membership was the norm in New Zealand before the Employment Contracts Act 1991 stripped away workers' rights. Thirty-five years on, working people are still living with the consequences – suppressed wages, rising inequality, and industries locked into low-wages," Mackintosh said.
The acting union president said they support the Green Party in taking their proposal into any post-election coalition talks, while encouraging other parties to get behind the bill.
"Rebuilding an employment relations framework that genuinely supports collective bargaining is essential to a fairer and more productive Aotearoa," she said.
