Press release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

Saturday, 3 December 2011 at 2pm, Embargoed until Sunday 4 December at 5am

Major customer asks ANZCO to go back to mediation

Waitrose has asked ANZCO to go back to mediation and reach a settlement with locked out CMP Rangitikei workers.

Waitrose, an up-market British supermarket and the sixth largest chain in the country, buys ANZCO lamb for the important British Christmas market.

New Zealand Council of Trade Union president Helen Kelly says ANZCO hasn’t followed up on Waitrose’s request.

“We’ve come to expect all sorts of unreasonableness from ANZCO, but refusing to listen to Waitrose, its major CMP Rangitikei customer, takes this dispute to another level of madness,” she says. “Despite the locked out workers agreeing to sacrifice 10% of their income, the company continues to try and starve workers and their families into accepting up to 20% pay cuts, to undermine the union and to mislead the public about the company’s proposed cuts.”

Mrs Kelly says Waitrose has a commitment to ethical standards in its supply chain which includes respecting workers rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Lockout threatens NZ meat brand in UK

“ANZCO and Chairman Sir Graeme Harrison are threatening the entire New Zealand meat brand in the United Kingdom by not resolving this dispute,” she says. “Unite, Britain’s largest union, will start to picket high profile Waitrose stores if ANZCO doesn’t start negotiating instead of dictating.”

ANZCO foods locked out 111 workers from its CMP Rangitikei sheep processing plant on October 19.

Supporters of the locked out workers held their first national fundraising day today outside of McDonalds, a customer of ANZCO.

ENDS

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