2 May 2012

Union granted facilitation over Talley's Affco lockout

The Employment Authority has accepted a Meat Worker's Union application for facilitated bargaining with Talley's Affco.

The authority found there is acrimony between the parties but has not yet set a date for the bargaining.

Meat Worker's Union general secretary Dave Eastlake says the news has come at good time for struggling families who say they were given false hope that the company's plan to partially lift the lockout would end the dispute.

“First Talley's Affco locked out 1,000 workers and their families after only 10 hours of face to face negotiations, then they told us they only came to mediation because they were legally required to, then they cancelled a mediation session and now they've tabled a completely new document in the ninth week of the dispute,” he says. “As you can imagine, the granting of facilitation has been met with a huge sigh of relief and there is finally hope we can get somewhere in negotiations."

Mr Eastlake says the partial lifting of the lockout for 300 Affco workers today “is not a gesture of good will, but a gesture of production needs.”

“Workers were devastated when Talley's Affco wouldn't guarantee it would lift the lockout for everyone at yesterday's mediation. The company could actually extend the suffering for those families that are still locked out if the company get the workers back it sorely needs to meet the cull cow season, which is now in full swing."

Mr Eastlake says unlocked out workers will continue to strike in support of their family members and co-workers who are still locked out.

Workers will attend union meetings at 3pm today to discussion the partial lifting of the lockout and the lack of progress in mediation, he says.

The union filed for faclitation on 18 April 2012 after Talley's cancelled planned mediation the day before, he says.

Facilitated bargaining is the highest form of Government-assisted mediation and is only available to parties having serious difficulties in collective bargaining and the threshold for getting facilitation is high. Facilitation is unlike mediation; the facilitator actively assists the parties and can make public, non-binding recommendations.

The union filed on the basis the lockout has been protracted or acrimonious and while the company didn't oppose the union's application, it didn't accept the union's basis for the application.

Despite the application not being opposed by the company, the authority still has to accept that the high threshold has been reached.

The union and company return to mediation next Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th of May.

Talley's has locked out up to 1000 Affco meat workers since February 29. Up to 500 workers are now locked out and 800 on strike. An estimated 5,000 children are affected by the dispute.

The Employment Authority determination is available here.

ENDS

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