So for those of us who are of an age where we remember the bad old days before the Employment Contracts Act of 1991, we recall how bad what used to be called "national awards" were. And this mandatory union deals piece of legislation does exactly that. It takes us back 30 years, to a time when most New Zealanders thought we had well passed and would not be ever returning to. Because for the last 30 years or so, New Zealanders had a nimble, easy, flexible employment relations framework that has enabled employers and employees to come to terms with each other in a way that encouraged businesses to succeed and to thrive.