The Talley family are one of New Zealand’s wealthiest families. Their operations include Seafood, Frozen vegetables, Dairy and Meat. One of their family, Peter Talley was recently knighted for services to business and the community.  

But this company has a checkered employment relations history going back to the early 1990's. In 2012 they locked out workers in their AFFCO meat plants for 84 days. Families and kids suffered, and it was only the support of unions, communities and iwi that got them through. But now it's happening all over again.

There comes a time when we have to say enough.

When workers are treated like chattels with no right to have any say - we should say enough.

When workers are getting hurt at work because of increasing demands - we should say enough.

Meat workers are keen for the government to pass the Health & Safety Reform Bill and particularly the provisions around worker participation. While some Meat Industry employers take health & safety and worker participation seriously, others see it as a form of intrusion on their right to manage, or even a threat from unions!  The consequences can be awful for workers.  

The weak attempt by the government to regulate around zero hours contracts has left many disappointed, and the problem of insecure hours still a wide open wound for many workers.  Front of mind for meat workers during these winter months are the seasonal lay-offs, when they are expected to find other work while the plant shuts down.  

It doesn’t have to be the “it’s our way or the highway” model that Talley’s owned meat companies practice - where voice through a union is to be suppressed and disciplinary action taken against union members who seek to advance their human rights to join unions and organise.

So say these workers at AFFCO Rangiuru, who this week have had to make the most awful decision - sign an unfair individual agreement, or have no job. But they're not giving up.  The Meat Workers Union asked the Employment Court to intervene with an injunction, but Judge Colgan declined it on the "balance of convenience".  The substantive case is due to be heard by a full panel of Employment Court Judges as soon as possible.  

On Tuesday 16th June, the Employment Court will decide whether AFFCO Talley in Rangiuru can force workers to accept new, inferior individual agreements if they want to return to work.  The Meat Workers Union says its a lockout. The company says they are new workers, despite thousands of years of combined service.  These are brave, hard working people, who do a tough job in an important industry.  We hope you will support them. 

Media Release - New Zealand Meat Workers Union

Three years after the Talley’s owned AFFCO Meat works locked out workers for 89 days at all of its North Island plants, meat workers at their site in Rangiuru are preparing to argue in court that the company is trying to lock them out again.