September 07, 2015
Meat workers count on iwi support
NZ Meat Workers Union members at Wairoa are making a stand against what they call the unlawful lockout tactics of their employer, AFFCO Talley’s.
Branch organiser Eric Mischefski says they won’t accept punitive individual agreements as a precondition to returning to work after the seasonal lay-off.
Wairoa is the fourth AFFCO plant to experience this process in the last three months, after AFFCO Talleys walked when AFFCO Talleys walked away from mediation around renewal of the collective agreement and sought to have the Employment Authority end the bargaining.
He says the meat workers who have returned to work on individual agreements in Rangiuru, Imlay and Manawatu have found a climate of fear, of managerial dictate and punishment.
They are also subject to unreasonable shift arrangements and uncertain income.
Mr Mischefski says while the Wairoa workers expect the company will try to recruit other workers to replace them, they have wide support in the town including whanau, hapu and iwi.
The Employment Court will next month hear the union’s case against the company, which used new legislation to walk away from mediation around renewal of the collective agreement.
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