November 19, 2015
AFFCO bargaining in bad faith
Meat company AFFCO has been found guilty of bad faith bargaining and illegally locking out staff.
Iwi leaders had attempted to mediate with the company as they had in previous years, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
The case was about the individual contracts staff were forced to sign before they could come back to work in the new season.
Workers at the Wairoa plant who refused to sign were locked out.
The Employment Court says those workers could be considered continuous, and the lock out was illegal.
It says by imposing the new contracts, the Talley’s owned company imposing cuts and conditions it could not get in its negotiation with the Meatworkers Union for a new collective agreement.
That means it also failed the test of good faith bargaining.
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