| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 157/07 |
| Determination date | 24 May 2007 |
| Member | L Robinson |
| Representation | S Mitchell ; J Hardaker |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | NZ Meat Workers & Related Trades Union v Crusader Meats NZ Ltd |
| Summary | BARGAINING – Reference for facilitation - Respondent neither consented or opposed application - Parties bargaining for over a year - Negotiations included several mediations and strike action - Threshold for reference very high and presumption against facilitation unless prescribed circumstances present - Applicant submitted negotiations reached serious roadblock and relationship between parties deteriorating as consequence - Contended difficulties convening meetings of members unusual feature of case and respondent obstructive - Applicant also claimed difficult getting respondent to negotiating table and respondent had no confidence in resolution in short term - Applicant concerned members would lose benefits of collectivity and new employees offered individual agreements instead of collective, undermining union membership - Considered situation going backwards" because of respondent's accusation applicant not acting in good faith and members sufficiently frustrated to strike - Respondent more confident and considered parties could conclude collective - Denied being hard nosed or obstructive - Authority accepted parties experiencing difficulties, but only "serious difficulties" warranted intervention - Eight days of bargaining over year "protracted" in temporal sense, but also required to be unduly so - Taken to mean excessively, in an inappropriate, unjustifiable or improper manner - Nothing in circumstances of negotiations with that quality - Negotiations not unduly protracted - Conclusion meant Authority not required to deal with second element of facilitation, but not persuaded efforts to resolve difficulties "extensive" - Present application premature - Application for reference to facilitation declined" |
| Result | Application dismissed ; No order for costs |
| Main Category | Bargaining |
| Statutes | ERA s50C;ERA s50C(1)(b) |
| Cases Cited | PMP Print Ltd and Anor v New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union Inc unreported, H Doyle, 22 December 2004, CA 162/04 |
| Number of Pages | 6 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 157_07.pdf [pdf 24 KB] |