The bill repeals the Fair Pay Agreements Act, ending the legislative framework that allowed for sector-wide collective bargaining to set minimum employment terms.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, first reading, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.
This bill repeals the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022, dismantling the system it created. Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) were a form of sector-wide bargaining: unions and employers could negotiate a single set of minimum pay rates and working conditions covering an entire industry or occupation (for example, cleaners, security guards or bus drivers), and the resulting agreement would then bind every employer and worker in that sector. Repealing the Act ends that framework and returns the country to enterprise-level bargaining, where pay and conditions are negotiated workplace by workplace or set by individual employment agreements. It affects workers, unions and employers across the economy.
The repeal delivers a coalition commitment of the National-led government and reverses a signature workplace policy of the previous Labour government. Supporters argue FPAs imposed rigid, costly, one-size-fits-all terms on diverse businesses, added compliance burdens, and reduced flexibility, and that pay should reflect individual firms' circumstances. Opponents, including unions and worker advocates, argue FPAs were designed to lift wages and conditions for low-paid workers in industries where individuals have little bargaining power, and that removing them weakens protections for the most vulnerable.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.