The New Zealand Meat Workers Union is readying to begin mediation with Affco New Zealan following the Employment Court ruling the meat processor unlawfully locked out workers. They were also accused of not acting in good faith.

Despite the effort to mediate, the union is less than optimistic it will be effective. Many union workers have been kept out of meat plants since the Employment Court ruling and those that have been given access are working inferior shifts. Affco claims it is complying with the terms of the ruling but intends to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeal.

Union representatives claim the problem has grown since Affco abused the process, accusing them of using words but not action.

One of the main issues in contention is that meat workers are considered continuous employers, despite being laid off at the end of the season and rehired when the new season begins. That ruling overturned decades of old Alliance cases and the Richmond case, both of which held there was no continuity in employment. Those rulings had been cited in multiple cases over the years.

The union also claims it has been hindered in its efforts to represent members and that workers have been pressured into signing individual contracts to start work during the new season. The union asserts workers should be covered under the existing contract that expired in 2013.

Affco is the first company under the government’s new employment law to apply to end bargaining and allow firms to opt out of multi-employer agreements.