
Issue No 40		19 November 1999

International

Kiwi Unions Rebuild from Ground Up

Interview with Noel Hester

After fifteen years as a right wing laboratory New Zealand is about to change tack. New NZCTU chief Paul Goulter outlines the challenge ahead.

What will be the emphasis of the new CTU leadership ?

We are unashamedly moving to an organising focus based on the urgent need to re-unionise the country. Union membership is at 20% - probably lower than that realistically speaking - and simply we don't have enough members.

In concrete terms, what are you going to do?

The central organisation has to play a leadership role as unions make the adjustments to an organising focus. And it has to act as a catalyst for that change. Now the catalyst part goes to issues around education and training. Helping unions internally to make those changes. Trying to get unions to work together on re-unionisation projects and very definitely to try and get some campaigning going again. I mean this government is still trying to get up legislation to do away with holidays and to tighten up - even more - employment contracts.

That was defeated on the ground through a very successful campaign which largely arose out of the activities of the unions themselves, rather than being led from the center. Now the CTU should be able to quickly resource and facilitate that - so we've got a whole lot of campaigning. Even if there is a change of government there still has to be a strong, independent voice of trade unions.

We've heard a lot about the disastrous consequences of the ECA, has there been anything positive to come out of that time?

It's bloody hard to think of any! I think one of the positives is that to a large extent workers have reclaimed the unions. The Employment Contracts Act has removed compulsory membership, removed the boundaries that unions had to keep by law of coverage, removed automatic bargaining rights, and enforced the ratification process on unions. Workers now feel a lot more confident about their ownership of their union, about bargaining and a whole lot of things have been brought a lot closer to the membership. So, workers where they are in unions feel a lot closer to the unions and feel they own them a lot more. That's one good thing.

Another - and this could have happened without the legislation, but it's forced the unions to be very clear about what it is they are doing. I mean, we've had to get rid of the bullshit because we can't afford it. Large elements of bureaucracy and featherbedding have gone and the resources are now very keenly focussed in the areas - or are starting to be - that really matter. So I think, I mean it's a shocking way to get to that end - but in a number of unions that has occurred, and indeed in my own union, FinSec we've re-worked the way we look at and do things.

How has FinSec survived in such a hostile climate?

We reduced everything down to some very simple propositions. We decided that our business was initially in negotiating people's contracts.

We identified what was our core business - which is banks and insurance companies.

We decided that we needed to be relevant at three levels: the workplace, the enterprise and the industry. So we unashamedly put resources into being an active participant at each of those three levels.

That was the first set of changes. The next set of changes was we moved to restructure ourselves internally in terms of elected structure and roles of paid and elected officials. We went back to an organising focus and I think we've been very successful in that.

Do you think there has been a sea change in attitudes to unions in New Zealand?

I think there has. And I think it's interesting that since her election Shipley has set out to bash unions. Their legislation is designed to get rid of unions, and in fact they are now attempting to hang onto power by bashing unions.

I think what that has done is put unions back on the agenda and I think that people do see a legitimate role for unions. I mean, things got so bad that there's almost like a new legitimacy that is emerging or has the potential to emerge around what unions are and what they stand for. What we have to do with the change of government is to capture that legitimacy or that view and somehow not squander it and actually build on it. It's about building on that view that we are relevant to someone's son or daughter when they first start in the workplace.

What sort of importance has Industrial Relations in the current election campaign?

A very important role, because it's one of the areas where there is a clear distinction between the Right and the Left. The Right wants to make the Employment Contracts Act even worse. The Left, or Centre Left promotes collective bargaining and promotes the role of the union.

There's an absolutely clear distinction and of course the major funders of the Right, the bosses, that's what they are really scared about. So of course they are putting a lot of money and time and effort into beating up their side.

The Herald published a study which asked employers what impact will getting rid of the ECA have on your business. In fact, the majority of employers themselves said it will have little impact. So putting aside all the bullshit of the Employers Federation - underneath them the majority don't actually seem to be that worried.

What is the union movement expecting of a coalition made up of Labor and the Alliance and will they deliver?

They've got to get rid of the ECA. It's really important that there is a package of changes which are broader than just industrial relations which are about getting the country back on the rails again. What does that mean? It means proper industry development policies. All those sorts of things have to work together.

What's your vision for the New Zealand trade union movement?

What Ross Wilson and I and Darien Fenton want to see is a bigger union movement that's more grumpy with government and employers around programmes that are achievable.

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  Issue 40 contents

Interview: No Quick Fix
Online pioneer Marc Belanger explains why the Internet, on its own, will not save the union movement.

Unions: Organising With A Mission
Entries are beginning to trickle in for the Labor Council Organiser of the Year. With just two weeks to deadline, we look at the TWU's nominee.

History: Rhyme and Reason
Poems written by workers provide us with an insight into their experiences and also how they felt about their work and working conditions.

Health: The Food Police
Three times a day you take your life in your hands. How? When you sit down to eat a meal.

Politics: East Timor: Defeat or Victory for the Left?
John Passant's "Requiem for the Left" advances some rather extravagant charges regarding the left and East Timor.

International: Kiwi Unions Rebuild from Ground Up
After fifteen years as a right wing laboratory New Zealand is about to change tack. New NZCTU chief Paul Goulter outlines the challenge ahead.

Satire: Australian Democrats Revealed as Student Hoax
The Chaser has obtained an exclusive background report on the extraordinary story which reveals how and why Cheryl Kernot defected from the Democrats.

Review: The Best of the Best
Once again Channel Nine has out done itself with it�s new Ray Martin program �Simply the Best�.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour review, our resource for officials and students.

Deface a Face: 25,000 Teachers Can�t Be Wrong!
Angry teachers yesterday voted overwhelmingly for Education minister John Aquilina to take the mantle of this week�s face to deface.

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