| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 43/05 |
| Determination date | 11 March 2005 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | L Highfield ; B Fleming |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | Service & Food Workers Union Inc v Hadleigh Hospital and Retirement Home Ltd and Anor |
| Other Parties | Huntleigh Retirement Home Ltd |
| Summary | PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Application for removal to Employment Court – Substantive application alleged respondents breached good faith obligations by refusing to engage in collective bargaining and by refusing to conclude a multi-employer collective employment agreement - Interpretation of section 33 of Employment Relations Act 2000 as amended by Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 – Applicant sought removal as gave rise to questions about whether respondents could refuse to conclude the MECA for reasons advanced and whether refusing to enter MECA meant respondents breached good faith in s4A of the ERA such that penalty should be imposed – Respondent alleged had genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds to refuse to conclude MECA – Respondent would not jointly bargain in respect of the relevant two work sites, but would do one and then address the other - Alleged commercial considerations meant each company in group strongly motivated to keep affairs as separate as possible from others – Also alleged Ministry of Health and some district health boards insisted on separate contracts for each company and each site – Important question of law likely to arise other than incidentally: defining “genuine reasons, based on reasonable grounds” – Such a nature and such urgency that in public interest to remove to Court – Also of opinion that in all circumstances Court should determine matter – Application removed to Court |
| Result | Application granted ; Matter removed to Employment Court ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA s4A;ERA s32(1);ERA s33;ERA s159(1)(b)(i);ERA s178 |
| Number of Pages | 5 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 43_05.pdf [pdf 21 KB] |