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8 October, 2007
Following overwhelming rejection of a collective agreement proposal on 28 September, 500 members of New Zealand’s Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) have put off industrial action late last week after the plastic employers’ association promised to improve their offer.
EPMU National Industry Officer Rachel Mackintosh said the decision to call off the strike was taken reluctantly, but employers pledged in talks late last week to revise the offer to include added leave time and recognition for long-time service. “At this stage, we don’t know the details of the offer, but the heat is on the employers because they know we’re determined to see this through and get a fair deal,” said Mackintosh.
She said the union’s bargaining committee for plastics thought it was important to give bosses one further opportunity to include added leave time in a new proposal. The EPMU represents plastics manufacturing workers of 13 companies at 16 worksites.
On 28 September, 81% of the workers voted to reject a prior industry offer based on the failure to address their service leave claim. They also endorsed a resolution to engage in industrial action. In the first two weeks of September, EPMU members in plastics manufacturing had rejected an earlier employers’ proposal.
EPMU members in metal sector bargaining won an extra week’s leave in that set of talks in 2007, and plastics workers of the EPMU are adamant on posting the same gains.