Forty trade unions deemed by the Court of Appeal to have operated unlawfully for the past year are being offered protection in urgent legislation.
The legislation, introduced to Parliament yesterday by Labour Minister Margaret Wilson, promises immunity for actions undertaken while they were not registered.
On a second front, the proposed law amendment will also give the Employment Relations Authority discretion to refuse lawyers the right to cross-examine witnesses during its investigations of employment problems.
This will override an Employment Court decision requiring the authority, which was set up as an informal disputes arbitrator under the year-old Employment Relations Act, to allow cross-examination.
New Zealand's largest unions, such as the Engineers' and the Public Service Association, were among those found by the Court of Appeal decision to have applied prematurely for registration under the new law.
But the Government's registrar of unions, Michael Hobby, had asked the unions to get in early before the law came into force on October 2 last year, in order to avoid a log-jam.
Many unions responded to the court decision last week by reapplying for and gaining same-day registration to avoid damages for action taken while they lacked legal status.
The Council of Trade Unions issued a no-strike recommendation.
But the proposed law change, which will be referred to a select committee for two weeks once it gains its first reading in Parliament, looks likely even to head off potential damages claims against a week-long strike by meatworks veterinarians this year.
That strike was what provoked legal action against their union, the non-CTU National Union of Public Employees, and led to the Court of Appeal decision.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
'The Effect' cast on new Auckland Theatre Company production
The Effect cast on the new Auckland Theatre Company production about love and sexual attraction. Video / Supplied