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Forgotten labour-hire bill resurrected

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Mar 21, 2018  -  A Labour bill that has been languishing for more than a decade will finally be resuscitated. Shane Cowlishaw reports.

After more than ten years a private members bill to stop the exploitation of temporary workers will be introduced to Parliament.

The Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill would allow people employed by a labour-hire company to take a personal grievance against the secondary employer they are subcontracted out to.

It would also grant those workers the ability to join a collective agreement if one was available.

The bill has its genesis in 2007 when former Labour MP Darien Fenton travelled to the UK on a parliamentary junket for first-termers.

While there, she caught up with a counterpart in the British government who mentioned he was grappling with a growing problem of exploited workers employed by labour-hire firms.

After returning to New Zealand, Fenton began talking to unions and employees and realised some were heading to the workplace with no rights at all.

Continue here to read the full article on Newsroom  ||  march 21, 2018   |||