Green Party to take automatic union membership bill to the election

Thursday, 16 July 2026

The Green Party plans to introduce the Employment Relations (Automatic Union Membership) Amendment Bill, making union membership the default setting for new workers covered by a collective agreement.

The bill reverses the current opt-in framework, though employees would retain the right to resign from the union immediately at any time.

Businesses would be required to notify unions before a new employee starts work and provide staff with collective agreements and union details, facing potential penalties for non-compliance.

The party argues the change is needed to reverse the decline in unionisation and bargaining power that followed the Employment Contracts Act 1991.

The Green Party wants union membership to become the default for new employees, arguing it would strengthen workers’ bargaining power while still allowing people to opt out.

Co-leader Marama Davidson announced on Wednesday the party would introduce the Employment Relations (Automatic Union Membership) Amendment Bill and take the policy into this year’s election.

The bill would require employers to automatically enrol new workers into the “default union” where their job is covered by a collective employment agreement. Employees would retain the right to resign from the union at any time.

Under the proposed law, employers would also have to tell new staff they would be enrolled, provide them with the relevant collective agreement and union contact details, explain their right to resign or join another union, and notify the union of the new employee before they start work. Employers who failed to comply could face penalties.

The bill would also require unions to provide one month’s free membership for automatically enrolled workers and allow resignations to take immediate effect.

Davidson said unions had won many workplace rights New Zealanders now took for granted, including “the eight-hour working day, paid leave, child labour laws and workplace health and safety protections”.

“Workers deserve the right to safe, fair and decent work, and being automatically a part of a collective is one of the best ways to ensure their rights will be fought for,” she said.

The Green Party’s workplace relations spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said the proposal would simply reverse the current system, with workers opting out of union membership rather than opting in.

“The default should be that workers are represented and backed, not the other way around.”

The bill is intended to increase union membership, strengthen collective bargaining and reduce income inequality, with the Green Party arguing declining unionisation has weakened workers’ bargaining power, while international evidence suggests automatic enrolment increases participation and broader collective bargaining supports more inclusive labour markets.

The party said the proposal would move New Zealand closer to employment settings that existed before the Employment Contracts Act 1991, which it said significantly reduced union membership and bargaining power.