EMA has mobilised its 4500 strong membership to stop the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament, urging its members to write to MPs in order to have the bill thrown out.
“As a member organisation we have done our utmost to bring the flaws of this bill to the attention of our membership and urge them to raise their concerns with MPs,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.
The EMA has sent members the email addresses of all MPs, along with key facts on why the bill in its current form should be rejected.
This is part of a national campaign by business organisations from North Cape to Bluff, including Business Central, Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce and Otago Southland Employers Association, coordinated by their business lobbyists, Business New Zealand.
“The impact of the bill in its current form will be have a significant negative impact for our members while failing to achieve its original objectives.
“While the bill appears to have been generated to address a certain issue, in practice its heavy-handed intervention will create more problems than it seeks to resolve.
“We do not condone poor management of contractors, and firmly believe the current legislation in place is adequate to address this.
“We have yet to see any objective evidence or facts of the scale and scope of the issue the bill seeks to address.
However, we are certainly willing to discuss this with government, opposition parties, unions and other concerned stakeholders, if the evidence can be produced that such a problem exists and that current legislation is failing,” says Campbell.
A private member’s bill promoted by Labour Party MP David Parker, the Contractor Bill is expected to have its third reading this week and maybe passed into law following that.
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