NZ Meat Workers Union wins again in Court

After the New Zealand Employment Court ruled last February that the Talleys/AFFCO brutal 5 month lockout of union members was illegal, the company appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal- and lost again.

Talleys had insisted workers could only return if they accepted new inferior individual terms of employment which among other things abolished seniority. The demand to accept new agreements undermined the process of renewing the collective bargaining agreement.  

The Court of Appeal concluded that unlawful lockout provisions  must extend to protect former employees who have contractual rights to an offer of re-employment from an employer which is refusing to engage them unless they accept new terms inconsistent with their existing rights.

Meanwhile in a separate case another Talleys owned meat company (Land Meat NZ) has been fined NZ$15,000 and ordered to enter into an arrangement to enter collective bargaining with the union within 6 weeks.

These cases are the latest in a long line of prosecutions for breaches of health and safety, union membership and collective bargaining rights successfully taken against this serial rights abusing employer.