Affco denies fixed-term contract meat workers are locked out

Talleys Group-controlled meat processor Affco New Zealand has told the Employment Court there is case law to back up its stance that seasonal meat workers are not employed continuously and instead sign fixed-term contracts, so cannot be said to have been locked out if they don't sign fresh contracts at the start of a new season.

The country's fourth largest meat processor is presenting its statement of defence in a row with NZ Meat and Related Trades Union over new individual contracts that workers are said to have been forced to sign this season and which they say impose punitive conditions.

In an amendment filed yesterday to the remedies sought in its original statement of claim, the union is seeking a declaration the individual agreements were gained in an unlawful lockout, breached the rights of union members under the expired collective agreement, an enquiry into other remedies and monetary compensation arising from the lockout, and a compliance order reinstating their rights under the collective agreement.

The case covers workers at Affco's Rangiuru, Imlay, and Manawatu plants but the company has accepted any finding will cover all eight of its North Island plants, of which only Moerewa in Northland is still to open for the season.

The lawyer acting for the company, Paul Wicks QC, said a number of court cases over the years, including the NZ Meat Workers Union v Richmond in 1992, spelt out that meat workers are employed on a seasonal basis and the employment relationship terminates at the end of each season.

Given there was no continuous employment, no lockout could have occurred when prospective employees were offered individual contracts for the new season, he said. There was no collective agreement at the time those offers were made, he said.

Mr Wicks said nothing he had heard in the union's submissions distinguished its claim from the Richmond finding or that it should be overturned.

The union argued there were a number of differences between the current case and Richmond, including that the earlier case was based on a statutory award rather than an expired collective agreement, which yielded a different result.

Under the individual contracts offered, Affco met the requirements under the Employment Contracts Act to give those workers the right to bargain on the terms and conditions and they could include the union in that process, Wicks said. "Therefore, no undermining of the union's authority arises," Wicks said.

While Affco had some obligations to the workforce employed the previous season at its plants, that didn't mean they were in continuous employment or that the company had to offer them the same terms and conditions as before, he said. One of those obligations included notifying them when work was being offered in the new season if they had indicated they were available.

The new individual contracts contained differences from the previous season's, which were based on the expired collective contract. Mr Wicks disputed some of the differences outlined in court by the union.

"They're not identical but it's not the wholesale removal of rights referred to by the union," he told the court.

One example was that "seniority is not completely abolished", he said, though the new contracts don't explicitly use that word. The ability to change workers' hours was the same as in the expired collective and site agreements along with a requirement to work shifts if instructed.

Some more contentious clauses, such as prohibiting meetings organised by anyone other than the company were removed, Mr Wicks said.

A second Employment Court hearing is set down for November, claiming Affco walked away from negotiations on the collective contract that expired in 2013.

The company became the first under the government's new employment law to apply for an end to bargaining. Amendments to the Employment Relations Act, introduced in March this year, let firms opt out of multi-employer agreements and removed the duty under good faith bargaining for both sides to reach agreement.

The three judges on the Employment Court have indicated they may hear both cases before delivering judgment on either.

Wairoa meat workers who have refused to sign individual contracts were back in court again today to lend their support for the union case.

(BusinessDesk)