I've had a bit of feedback on this morning's post on employment relations, which is worth sharing. First, while the Maori Party hasn't officially released policy on this issue, they have told the EPMU where they stand - and it is firmly on the left. So, if National ends up having to rely on them for support after the election, they probably won't be making many changes in this area (which seems appropriate if parties representing a majority of voters oppose their proposals).
Meanwhile, The NBR's Ben Thomas pointed me at a piece he wrote back in August ("Getting to work on work policy", sadly offline) where National claimed that their promise to "continue to allow union access to workplaces with the employer’s consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld" was not intended to alter the current situation, and that they did not plan to change that section of the Act. Which begs the question: why are they saying it then? Their policy is clearly worded to give employers the impression that unions will be denied access; if in fact they do not intend to deliver, they should not be saying it. Anything else is simply dishonest.
