1The National-led Government has initiated changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes would: allow employers to opt out of the negotiation for a multi-party collective employment agreement; provide an Employment Authority circuit-breaker when union/employer negotiations reach a stalemate (including the imposition of a 60-day strike-free 'cool-off' period); permit employers to make partial wage deductions when employees take partial strike action such as adopting restricted work practices; and give employers and individual employees more flexibility in determining their hours of work and rest breaks. New Labour Party leader David Cunliffe is talking about turning up the heat on the Government's employment reforms, promising to repeal this law if it is passed, along with some of the other elements of National's employment relations policy already in place. Interview with a spokesman from the Employers and Manufacturers Association.

2The National-led Government has initiated changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes would: allow employers to opt out of the negotiation for a multi-party collective employment agreement; provide an Employment Authority circuit-breaker when union/employer negotiations reach a stalemate (including the imposition of a 60-day strike-free 'cool-off' period); permit employers to make partial wage deductions when employees take partial strike action such as adopting restricted work practices; and give employers and individual employees more flexibility in determining their hours of work and rest breaks. New Labour Party leader David Cunliffe is talking about turning up the heat on the Government's employment reforms, promising to repeal this law if it is passed, along with some of the other elements of National's employment relations policy already in place. Interview with the President of the Council of Trade Unions, Helen Kelly.