After 5 months of being locked out of AFFCO Talleys, Wairoa meat workers will return to work next Monday 22 February.
More than 200 meat workers protested against the terms of employment imposed on them by AFFCO Talleys. They claimed that the conditions were slave labour and took away all their rights.
A statement released by the New Zealand Meat Workers Union says "The Employment Court had given AFFCO Talleys until the 23rd February to comply with its recent decision that the company must observe seniority and re-engage the workers on the shifts they would have been employed on had it not been for the unlawful lockout."
Organising Director of the union says, “The Meat Workers Union is really pleased that these workers will finally be able to go back to their jobs and get on with rebuilding their lives.
The lockout has taken its toll on the workers, their whanau and the small community of Wairoa, and it’s going to take some time for them to recover financially and emotionally.
This is a wonderful victory for a group of determined workers, who stood up to one of New Zealand’s richest companies and won.”
Last December, the Meat Workers Union handed out weekly food parcels to families affected by the lockout. The Union also helped out with mortgage and rent expenses.
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