Summarised by Centrist
In a parliamentary exchange, Labour MP Camila Belich challenged ACT MP Brooke van Velden, the Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, on the coalition government’s workers’ rights record, questioning whether Van Velden agreed with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) that this government is the “most anti-worker in decades.”
Van Velden responded by calling the previous government more anti-worker, citing vaccine mandates as a restriction that “eroded workers’ freedom of choice.
Van Velden pointed out that the previous Labour government’s vaccine mandates significantly harmed workers’ rights, calling it an unprecedented infringement on “freedom of choice and bodily autonomy.”
She argued that vaccine mandates forced many workers out of their jobs, asserting that “never before have we seen the rights of workers across this country be eroded so swiftly.” Van Velden suggested that Labour’s unwillingness to explore alternatives, like rapid tests, drove divisions, leaving affected workers “pushed… to the margins of society.”
Expanding her criticism, van Velden contended that Labour’s “legislative overreach” created lasting divisions in society, impacting workers’ livelihoods. She described the mandates as a clear example of how Labour policies undermined workers’ stability and income, arguing that the resulting ostracism left a mark on both civil and employment sectors. “This government is delivering for all workers, including the over 85% who are not union members,” she said.
Image: YouTube
