EMA cares about the workers – Yeah Right!

By Winged Rodent

When an organisation with a long record of supporting anti-worker legislation starts standing up for the little guy, one can be forgiven for thinking we have slipped into a parallel universe.
In light of this the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA)’s “battle for fairness” on behalf of workers who choose not to join KiwiSaver, seems positively Twilight Zone.
That is until you ask one question “what’s in it for the employers?”.
The EMA (Northern) is claiming to be supporting the rights of people who cannot afford to join KiwiSaver, by campaigning against an amendment to the law that will ensure workers who do sign up to the scheme get their fair entitlement.
KiwiSaver employment contributions are a new entitlement for workers which is offset each year by a $20 a week employer tax credit. A loophole in this means some employers have been pocketing money meant for workers’ savings.
By opposing the closure of this loophole, EMA claims to be standing up for the rights of employees who would like to see the employers’ contributions remain more flexible (ie paying the KiwiSaver contribution as an increase in their cash salary up front instead of into a savings fund).
What it is actually doing is giving employers the opportunity to do what they will with government money meant for employees’ savings.
EMA also seems to miss the purpose of KiwiSaver entirely. It is designed to help New Zealanders save for their future. It was set up because of the alarming amount of Kiwis who are hitting retirement age without a penny to their name. You can’t tell me an employers’ association cares what happens to employees when they turn 65. The money for the employers’ contribution is designed to help Kiwis prepare for the future. You can’t take a tax credit that is designed for one thing and use it for another.
This is why we feel the EMA’s melodramatic newspaper campaign to stop the “attack on workers” seems somewhat disingenuous and a rather cynical ploy to get what employers’ want by pretending to stick up for employees.
I’m sorry guys but it will take more than half page adds with sinister silhouettes sporting demon red eyes and words like ‘Unfair’ ‘Discriminatory’ and ‘Wrong’ to get us to buy that! (Even if it is Trevor Mallard – who is no friend of ours!)
And of course there is nothing stopping these champions of workers’ rights from paying the equivalent of the employers’ contribution to those who choose not to join KiwiSaver-  they just won’t be able to get the tax credit for it.
In fact we would applaud such a selfless gesture and would go as far as suggesting that if they are really concerned about those who cannot afford to take part in KiwiSaver, they could solve the problem completely by simply increasing wages.