Unions Manawatu

Unions Manawatu Local Affiliate Council (LAC) of the NZCTU for the Manawatū region. Authorised by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU)

17/06/2026

The next attack on workers is here: The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill.

Read more and sign the open letter: www.together.org.nz/not_one_more_health_and_safety

That Bill, as it stands, opens the door to:
- Reduced protections for workers in small businesses;
- Deprioritising serious hazards, and;
- Leaves many workers without a meaningful voice in their own safety.

Health and safety professionals, employer groups, and worker representatives have all raised the alarm. Even ACC have warned this Bill will lead to more harm.

When twenty-nine miners died at Pike River, New Zealand made a promise. We said, “never again”. We said, “every worker deserves to come home safe”. That commitment belongs to all of us. Minister Brooke van Velden's Bill will undo that commitment.

This open letter to all Members of Parliament asks them to look at the evidence, hear the warnings, and come together to refuse the passing of this Bill.

Sign the NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi open letter now!

Today marks yet another grim day for the working class in Aotearoa. The Education and Workforce Select Committee release...
17/06/2026

Today marks yet another grim day for the working class in Aotearoa. The Education and Workforce Select Committee released its report on Minister Van Velden's dodgy amendments to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The committee that the Bill be passed into law. There has been much said about this flagrant attack on workers, and much more that we will say, but today we should highlight what protections the Minister is actually removing from over half a million hard working kiwis.

The new Section 25A proposed by Minister Van Velden states explicitly that a business with fewer than 20 employees (small PCBU) only has to comply with the provisions in section 36 to 43 IN RELATION TO CRITICAL RISKS. So, what's in sections 36 to 43? Boy, we're sure glad you asked. Not only is it the basic provisions of duty of care and ensuring your workplace doesn't kill or maim you, but it also contains protections for customers of companies that manufacture, import, sell, install machinery and plant equipment.

So, now, if this disaster of a Bill is passed into law, you can no longer expect that air conditioning machinery imported manufactured, designed, sold, and installed in Aotearoa will be safe for you to use - how cool is that?!

What a win for degrading the standards of safety of infrastructure, what a win for racing to the bottom on quality for locally designed and manufactured machinery, what a win for the cowboys out there that are the bane of all good and respectable installers.

So not only does the Bill propose gutting the safety standards for those of us working in manufacturing, and for the half million workers in small enterprised generally, it's going to put us at risk of all kinds of dodgy machinery in workplaces, in our libraries, in our supermarkets, our schools. Thanks, Van Velden, really shows how much you care about Kiwis. Like that time you said we'd overvalued human lives when facing an unprecedented international health crisis.

Interested in getting involved with the local Greens as they campaign to get the current parasitical coalition out of Go...
16/06/2026

Interested in getting involved with the local Greens as they campaign to get the current parasitical coalition out of Government?
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Come along to Hancock House this Saturday, 20th June at 3pm to find out more!
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Fantastic effort at Saturday’s Enrollathon - in a few hours over 20 volunteers had 150+ conversations out in doors in Hi...
02/06/2026

Fantastic effort at Saturday’s Enrollathon - in a few hours over 20 volunteers had 150+ conversations out in doors in Highbury, ran pop up stalls, enrolled at least 13 people on the spot and handed out plenty more enrolment forms. Huge mihi to the union members involved and volunteers joining us from and ! Want to get more involved with enrolling your community and workplaces to vote and kick this government out? Flick us a message.

Listen live at 4pm today on mpr.nz or 999AM, or stream form this evening on all streaming platforms.-Today’s episode was...
02/06/2026

Listen live at 4pm today on mpr.nz or 999AM, or stream form this evening on all streaming platforms.
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Today’s episode was recorded shortly after the sh*tty Govt Budget was released and is a real-time snippet of some union member/official’s thoughts on the horror of the MANY CUTS.
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Haere mai, whānau mā. Support local Labour candidate and E tū member Tangi Utikere's reelection campaign and grab a tick...
17/05/2026

Haere mai, whānau mā. Support local Labour candidate and E tū member Tangi Utikere's reelection campaign and grab a ticket to the Fundraiser Movie Night where you'll see Campaign (1999).
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From NZ on Screen: "In 1996 Tony Sutorius got his hands on a new digital video camera, days before an election campaign began in Wellington Central. Made on a shoestring, this feature-length documentary chronicles five of those battling for the crown as a new political age — MMP — dawns. Richard Prebble joins a new party called Act, the National candidate joins United New Zealand… and one of the five will be sacrificed by their own party. Sutorius sat through 55 hours of footage to forge the result, which won enthused, sellout audiences at the 1999 NZ Film Festival."
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Https://bit.ly/labourpalmy for tickets!
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Union members are invited to local author Riley Chance’s book launch - Riley has also been a proud local union member. T...
14/05/2026

Union members are invited to local author Riley Chance’s book launch - Riley has also been a proud local union member. Their new book “the Target” weaves the 1984 Trades Hall Bombing and union movement into the plot.

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