Cheese workers return to work pending hearing

Media Release: Dairy Workers Union
Monday September 21 2009

Open Country Cheese workers return to work pending court hearing

The Dairy Workers Union says that workers at Talleys-owned Open Country Cheese have ended their strike and will return to work at 6pm tonight, pending a hearing in the Employment Court this Friday on whether illegal replacement labour is being used by the company.

“Today we have been granted an urgent hearing in the Employment Court to determine whether Open Country Cheese is breaking the law in their use of replacement labour to run the factory while there is industrial action on,” said James Ritchie, National Secretary of the Dairy Workers Union.

“In the meantime, having got a hearing set down for Friday, the workers are of the view that there is no point having the factory run without them being the ones carrying out the work, and will return until this matter is heard by the Court.”

“Open Country has been highly aggressive from day one,” James Ritchie said. “They tried unsuccessfully to block workers from accessing on-site union representation, attempted to intimidate workers into leaving the union, have refused to negotiate collectively and last week met a strike notice with a six week lockout threat.”

“Workers have rights enshrined in New Zealand and international law to negotiate collectively with employers over their work conditions. Almost all employers in New Zealand accept this and get on with running their businesses. Open Country has indicated by their statements and actions to date that they want to operate outside the law.”

The hearing is set down for the Employment Court in Auckland this Friday. Section 97 of the Employment Relations Act sets out the rules regarding the use of replacement labour during a strike or lockout.

The union has given further notice of strike action from the 3rd of October.

ENDS

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