Talley's staff at Affco Rangiuru near Te Puke will down tools and strike for two days next week after the produce company waked away from the mediation process.

New Zealand Meat Workers Union general secretary Graham Cooke says the strike vote is overwhelming.

Photo: File.

Talley's, who own Affco, walked away from talks last week and applied to end bargaining under the government's new employment laws – the first such application since the law came into effect.

'Affco workers who predicted Talley's would be first to take advantage of the new laws have proven to be right,” says Graham.

'Talley's is an outlier in the meat industry in the way it deals with employment relations and health and safety.

'The public haven't forgotten their cruel lockout in 2012, which lasted 84 days and caused real hardship to families in poor communities.

'During this bargaining round, they added new demands to reduce job security, threatened the union and others with legal action, and bullied their staff at work.

'They've shown no interest in a fair deal, despite the Union's efforts to negotiate on the things they say are important to them. It seems they were just waiting for the law to change so they could walk away.

'Talley's actions at Affco plants is out of step with Kiwi values. If they can't be trusted to treat their workers fairly and safely at work, how can the public trust their brand?”

The strike action will affect eight Affco plants in the North Island.

The 1000 union members at the Affco plants make up around half of the workforce says the Union.

However, Affco general manager Rowan Ogg says less than a quarter of the Affco workforce are Union members.

'We understand that only a few at each site have voted to strike,” says Rowan. 'Most just want to get on and work and over 90 per cent of our workforce will be doing just that next week.

'A strike is both disruptive and unnecessary. Our focus throughout the last 18 months of bargaining has always been an agreement which reflects the current operating environment in the industry and secures jobs.

'In the face of declining stock numbers and growing overcapacity in the industry, our aim has been on job preservation and job sustainability.

'This is an extremely competitive industry and the best thing we can do for all of our staff is have workplace agreements that provide more opportunity for better earnings and longer seasons.”

Some of the clauses the Unions insist on retaining date back over half a century or longer, says Rowan.

'For example, their wish to retain a 37.5 hour week, rather than the standard 40 hours that the company should be operating on, was traced back to a 1964 Meat Award.

'That's a staggering 51 years ago. An eight-hour day is standard place in all modern industry today.”

Rowan adds their comment about Talley's being an outlier in the meant industry is incorrect, as it is Affco that has been bargaining with the Union.

And other allegations made against Affco by the Union have been investigated and found to be baseless, says Rowan.

'There have been various reviews by various government departments in relation to some of those claims and in total they have all been rejected,” he says.

'So there is no foundation to the comments he's made. They are baseless.

He says the Meat Workers Union complained to government departments including Worksafe, MBIE, and immigration.

'And as a result of that,” adds Rowan, 'those government departments have undertaken their reviews and they have rejected every one of the Union's assertions.”