NZ Labour Day: What We've Gained and Lost

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Our thanks to London carpenter Samuel Parnell (1810-1890) whose insistence in 1840 on eight hours work, eight hours sleep and eight hours recreation started it all.

The story goes that  a fellow passenger on the Duke of Roxburgh, shipping agent George Hunter asked him  to build him a store at Petone when they arrived in February 1840. Parnell's response has entered New Zealand folklore:

I will do my best, but I must make this condition, Mr. Hunter, that on the job the hours shall only be eight for the day ... There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want for themselves. I am ready to start to-morrow morning at eight o'clock, but it must be on these terms or none at all.

'You know Mr. Parnell,' Hunter replied, 'that in London the bell rang at six o'clock, and if a man was not there ready to turn to he lost a quarter of a day'. 

'We're not in London', said Parnell. With few tradesmen in the young settlement, Hunter had little choice but to accept the carpenter's terms. As Parnell later wrote, 'the first strike for eight hours a-day the world has ever seen, was settled on the spot.'

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My thanks to Stuff for this article that looks at the contrary views of a trade unionist, two business leaders and a pro-worker NGO,

To some, Labour Day's just a day to spend with family, or at the beach.

But for business leaders, and worker representatives, Labour Day's significance remans strong with modern workers facing new pressures and uncertainties in a world transformed by globalisation and digital technology.

Labour Day became a public holiday in New Zealand in 1899, intimately tied to the fight for the eight-hour working day championed by immigrant carpenter Samuel Parnell.

Many New Zealanders no longer work an eight-hour day, and neither do overlooked caregivers and voluntary-sector workers.

Their experiences pose questions that would have interested Parnell, who didn't live to see Labour Day made a public holiday, nearly 130 years after his death.

Stuff asked four leaders in their fields of business and employment for their views on what Labour Day means to them, and to the country today.

CELEBRATING WHAT WE'VE LOST

Mike Treen, National director, Unite Union.

"When we celebrate Labour day today we are actually celebrating something that has been lost for many workers.

"I represent security guards for whom the 12-hour day and sixty-hour week is the norm. The complaints we get from our members is usually when they are rostered less than 60 hours because they can't survive on the minimum wage unless they work as many hours as they can."

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

Mike Treen is the National Director of Unite Union which represents workers in fast food outlets, cinemas, and casinos.

"I also represent fast food workers who are effectively all designated as part-time workers and have no right to an eight-hour day or forty hour week, either. This is true even after outlawing zero-hour contracts. We won the right to guaranteed hours, but only "up to" 30 or 40 hours a week. Full-time work is usually reserved for salaried managers.

"Those examples are not two extremes. They are the norm for hundreds of thousands of workers in New Zealand today.

"The norm of an eight-hour day and a forty-hour week was effectively eliminated in New Zealand in the 1990s when the Employment Contracts Act was imposed. At the same time, the legal obligation to pay overtime rates and weekend penal rates was removed.

"Talking to young workers in New Zealand and they are astonished to be told that penal rates for more than eight hours in a day or on weekends was virtually compulsory in New Zealand until less than 30 years ago and remains so in Australia.

"We need all workers to get time and a half pay for work more than 8-hours a day or 40 hours a week. We need penal rates for all weekend work, not just public holidays.

"There should also be a legal obligation to make jobs full-time rather than part-time wherever possible.

"That is the only way to make the eight-hour day and forty hour week a reality again for many workers."

EDUCATION AND MODERN LABOUR

Kirk Hope, chief executive, BusinessNZ.

"In the past Labour Day used to be a just another holiday, with a chance to go surfing or relax and enjoy the beginning of spring weather.

"These days it has a deeper significance for me. Working in advocacy, representing businesses and workplaces, I now see Labour Day more as a celebration of work and a tribute to workers.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF

Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope says the success of society is based on the work of business owners and their employees.

"Our economy depends on people who work to start, grow and contribute to businesses that provide all the services and goods we enjoy in modern life.

"In the 19th century Samuel Parnell did us all a great service, standing up for an 8-hour day.  

"His stand led to many more advances including the Human Rights Act outlawing discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and to employment standards for minimum pay levels, holidays, sick leave, parental leave and more.

"The nature of work has changed since Parnell's time.  

"The eight-hour day itself is under some threat because of new technologies. Many people are now always on-call, always connected, and working too many hours.  

"Meanwhile skill obsolescence, and the increasing need for new skills, mean others are underemployed and unable to enjoy the rewards of full-time employment.

"I believe this calls for more attention to be paid to education and skills, so we can take advantage of new higher-skill, higher-value opportunities that are defining work in the 21st century."

DIFFERENT WORLD, DIFFERENT BATTLES

Craig Garner chief executive, Business Mentors New Zealand.

"Labour Day is a chance to have an extended getaway from work and spend time with family and friends.

"The irony that this holiday is to recognise and commemorate just that, getting away from the demands of work, may be lost on some.

"Carpenter Samuel Parnell from Petone, in 1840, won the right to limit his working day to 8 hours. The concept of 8 hours work, 8 hours leisure and 8 hours sleep is the basis of a standard 40-hour working week we are accustomed with today.

SUPPLIED

Craig Garner, chief executive of Business Mentors NZ, says modern life puts huge stress on workers.

"Avoiding worker exploitation, supported by modern employment legislation including the Employment Relations Act 2000, underpins laws that ensure a work-life balance is maintained in the New Zealand workplace. 

"Despite this, a survey by the Citizens Advice Bureau found that as many as 1 in 10 New Zealand employees do not have an employment agreement despite it being a legal requirement. Stories of worker exploitation inclusive of unsatisfactory working conditions, extended hours and low pay are frequently exposed.

"We have to question whether our employment laws and our employment practices are keeping pace with our changing business environment. Thtechnology and globalisation mean that we must keep up or risk being left behind. The conversation needs to move from time-related working practices to productivity-driven economies with worker wellbeing at the fore, not as a by-product.

Wellbeing is what we are talking about now, and for a good reason. Stress is regarded as acceptable; bullying managers are being normalised, cost of living is out of control, technology is placing increasing demand on productivity expectations, and we wonder why burnout, mental health issues and worker dissatisfaction are so rife now.

It's been 178 years since a Wellington Carpenter stood up and said enough is enough. Spending time with family and friends and engaging in leisure activities has a positive impact on both our wellbeing, our productivity and ultimately our economy.

FORGOTTEN WORK, FORGOTTEN WORKERS

Ricardo Menendez, Auckland Action Against Poverty coordinator

"Labour day has often focused on waged work and on the exploitative relationship of the employer and worker.

"It often fails to include many people who exist outside of waged labour: People on the benefit, caregivers, and those who do volunteer work in their communities all exist outside this dynamic, their important contributions to society often brushed aside and seen as less valuable.

"Successive Governments have consistently undermined caregiving. Despite the ongoing fight of advocates in New Zealand to guarantee a decent income for families caring for disabled family members, their critical work still goes largely unrecognised, even when a person's life depends on that care.

SUPPLIED

Ricardo Menendez March advocates for beneficiary rights for Auckland Action Against Poverty.

"Many communities and organisations are run by volunteers. We're not just talking about NGO's, but also schools depending on parents who are willing to give their labour to run events, school trips, fundraisers, provide parent teacher help, and to contribute to the running of the school by participating in boards of trustees.

"We also can't ignore that most of this labour ends up being performed by women, because of the gender norms that exist around caring and community work.

"And while people on the benefit may be stigmatised, told they don't contribute to society, they are too often the ones who play the huge and vital role in providing care for their loved ones and their communities. They are in our church choirs, in our community gardens, caring for our grandparents and children. Yet, their incomes remain below the poverty line, with benefit levels set too low to cover their basic costs of living, and relying on food grants to simply get by.

"New Zealand would cease to function without the contributions of those who are struggling the most. That's why this Labour Day I want us to support their own fight for liveable incomes in recognition of the work they do."

Stuff