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NZ Meat Workers & Related Trades Union v Crusader Meats NZ Ltd
24 May 2007, L Robinson, AA 157/07, (6 pages)
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
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