ITP MECA December update

ITP MECA/SECA BARGAINING NEWSLETTER 16 DECEMBER 2010 Dear members Since the recent round of branch meetings a number of things have happened that you need to be updated on. As you will recall, following the very acrimonious and difficult bargaining for the renewal of your collective agreement, we began a working party process which we hoped would build a positive working relationship with your employers, as well as resolve the outstanding issues left over from bargaining. This was facilitated by the Partnership Resource Centre (PRC) a division of the Department of Labour. This process seemed to be going along very smoothly, with both the union and the employers commenting favourably about progress. However, the timeframes that were originally anticipated needed to be extended because of the delay in getting the PRC involved in the process and because we wanted to keep the working party going in a positive way the union and the employers agreed to extend the time to initiate bargaining for a new MECA until we had gone through this process.

As the work of the working party drew to a close the union informed the employers that we would hold a round of member meetings to both give an update on what had happened, and to seek guidance on the future direction of the collective agreements. At those meetings members voted overwhelmingly in favour of replacing the multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) with site-based agreements.

The last of those meetings was held on Tuesday 9 December at Whitireia. At the same time that meeting was ending the union received an email from your employer along with the five other CEOs which purported to be initiating for a MECA. We regard this as a gross breach of trust and good faith and we are currently looking at our legal options. However, regardless of any legal remedies available we will be writing to the employers expressing serious concerns about our continuing ability to work with them in a constructive manner in the face of this duplicitous behaviour. This is especially galling given the employers’ statements at the last meeting that they had found the partnership process constructive and useful and wanted to continue it at site level next year.

TEU has challenged the employer notice for a MECA and we have initiated for SECAs at each branch, however as advised above we are currently assessing our legal options around the initiation process.

What this means for you There are a number of things that we want you to be aware of now and before you return to work in 2011. As indicated above, the union and the employers had reached an agreement that the initiation for a new collective agreement would be delayed. In honouring that agreement, the TEU did not issue an initiation notice before the expiry of the MECA. It is our view that the employers have reneged on this agreement by initiating bargaining for a MECA. The result of that action, which we believe is a breach of good faith, has some consequences for your employment agreements as follows: •

the MECA no longer exists because it expired on the 30 November 2010 and all TEU members are now on individual agreements identical to the expired MECA. This is similar to what occurred in March 2010;

•

new staff, (this includes any TEU members who are employed on a new fixed-term or hourlypaid agreement) can be offered conditions that are different to and inferior to those that you are covered by;

•

any permanent TEU members can be offered conditions that are different to and inferior to those that you currently have (NB these can’t be changed unless you agree).

The employers’ action means that: • you will be sent a notice from your employer, advising you that the employers have initiated bargaining for a new MECA. This is a legal requirement; • under the Employment Relations Act because the employers have initiated for a new MECA we must hold a ballot of all our members asking you to vote on whether you wish to be party to this new MECA bargaining1; • we know from the round of branch meetings that we have just held that members at all six branches are overwhelmingly in favour of site bargaining. These ballots will be run in late January 2011; • the TEU will be running a campaign with you in each of your branches to make sure that we secure a CA with no loss of conditions for 2011; • the TEU will be running a campaign to make sure that new staff and nonmembers know what conditions they will be losing if they sign up to the employers’ new individual agreements.

Just to remind you, this is a timeline of the most recent part of the bargaining: June:

Employers are instructed to take part in a facilitation process.

Employers are instructed to engage in a working party to try and resolve the outstanding issues in bargaining.

October:

First central working party meets in Hamilton.

Union and employers agree to extend the initiation date to allow the working party process to take its course.

November:

Local working parties are held at each ITP to discuss local issues.

Second central working party meets in Hamilton.

December:

Local branch meetings are held to give feedback on the central and local working parites and members debate and vote to initiate for site agreements – SECAs. Employers initiate for a MECA. The union challenges the legality of that initiation and initiates for six site agreements – SECAs.

• Your employers still want to change your terms and conditions • Members at other ITPs haven’t lost conditions and they have all had pay increases • In 2011 we will be telling your employers that they need to negotiate with the TEU If you have any questions about this newsletter please contact irena.brorens@teu.ac.nz or sharn.riggs@teu.ac.nz Irena Brorens National Industrial Officer

1. S47 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, which requires a union to hold a secret ballot of members employed by the employer, if the union considers a majority of its members employed by the employer would disagree with bargaining for a single collective agreement. Note the proposed MECA initiation means the ‘single collective agreement’ referred to in the section.