September 23, 2011
Meat Workers Union Welcomes Determination of Employment Relations Authority
The New Zealand Meat Workers Union has welcomed the decision yesterday by the Employment Relations Authority,
determining issues between the Union and AFFCO New Zealand Limited.
The Authority has found that AFFCO breached its obligations in good faith, by offering employees who are not members of
the Union, or who were willing to leave the Union, significantly different terms of employment, than under the
Collective Agreement. According to the Employment Relations Authority, there was a "huge disparity" in the terms.
The Authority has made Compliance Orders requiring AFFCO to act in good faith, and to cease misleading practices when
employing workers. It is also ordered that AFFCO is to stop requiring members of the Union to apply for their jobs at
the beginning of each season, as the workers are entitled to this work.
Graham Cooke, the Secretary of the Aotearoa Branch of the Union said today:
AFFCO has attacked the Union by offering better conditions to new workers on individual employment agreements, and has
tried to encourage Union members to leave the Union for better pay and conditions.
The Authority has agreed with us that these actions were unlawful. Sadly AFFCO seems determined not to work with the
Union and has tried to do everything it can to break the Union. This decision will make that far more difficult.
The determination follows others of the Employment Relations Authority, in which AFFCO has acted unlawfully in relation
to the Union. It has been required by injunction to recognise a Union Official it refused to work with [2011] NZERA
Wellington 23. In addition, AFFCO was recently found to have discriminated against a Union Official by not allowing him
to work in his butcher position he had held for over twenty years, and requiring him to work as a labourer, with
substantial pay losses [2011] NZERA Wellington 70.
Mr Cooke said today :
The ERA is helping us deal with an anti-Union employer in any way it can. What is needed however, is an attitude change.
It makes no sense for the Company and the Union to be fighting in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment
Court, and wasting the resources of both AFFCO and the Union. Our energy should be put into fixing problems. Sadly, the
Company is unwilling to work in this way.
The Union will now be seeking compensation for workers who were not engaged when they should have been. At the
commencement of the 2011 season, Mr Cooke stated :
The Union will take any step it can to ensure that our members have not been disadvantaged, and will seek compensation
for them.
ENDS