To all Members of Parliament

After Pike River, New Zealand promised to do better.

We saw what went wrong: weak accountability, ignored warnings, and workers without a voice. We committed to making sure it never happened again. We sought health and safety laws that would protect every worker, regardless of who they work for.

Minister Brooke van Velden's current Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill breaks that commitment. This Bill is not based in evidence. It was not shaped by consultation. Worker representatives, health and safety professionals, industry bodies, and employer groups warned that this Bill would put more people at risk of harm. ACC even advised it will lead to more harm and higher costs.

That will mean more injuries, more families carrying the cost of unsafe work, and more risks being ignored before it is too late.

The current amendments allow small businesses do less to keep people safe, push serious and harmful risks to health and safety aside, and create confusing loopholes. These changes walk back crucial health and safety duties and leave many workers without a voice in how their work is done safely.

We sign this letter because we believe that every person, in every workplace and industry, regardless of who employs them, deserves to finish their working day and come home safe and healthy.

We urge every Member of Parliament to listen to the evidence, take these warnings seriously, and vote this Bill down.

Do not take New Zealand backwards. Do not repeat the failures that led to Pike River.

Nāku noa, nā.

• Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse
• NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi