These two guys are delegates at Open Country Cheese. On the left is Lotao Aliimatafitafi and Dave te Iringa is on the right.
They, with the rest of their team have done a great job in building community support – though to be fair Talleys and the manager have helped a lot too.
I can’t go into details on the current state of the dispute. My briefing was confidential.
Lotao is a pretty recent employee. People who have been around rugby circles might remember him as a talented young front rower a few years back. He has been playing professional rugby in France for the last five years.
Dave is the guy that management accussed of breaking a van window with a rock. Their problem was that they supplied the Police with a video that showed Dave was rolling a smoke with two hands throughout the incident which looks like it was caused by a stone from a preceeding car. While some of my colleagues past and present might regard rolling a smoke as a worse thing to do it isn’t illegal.
Being delegates isn’t easy at the best of time. Leading during a lockout in a rural area is tough. Good work guys.
Who is the skinny runt in the middle channeling Michael Laws in gauntness?
Is this not our new cycling champion?
No wonder they call you clever Trevor.
No comment (might be misread as sucking up).
What Cactus said. You’re looking trim Trevor. Don’t forget to do some strength training as with that weight loss you’ll lose muscle mass unless you do strength work – that means lots of hills and occasional gym visit.
They are big guys. I’m above 90kg which feels much more biking up hills. And Gooner if you saw my thighs you wouldn’t worry about loss of muscle mass.
Well, Trev needed those two body guards to ward off all his fans.
Lets get back on thread – sorry for letting it get diverted. As a former Taumarunui resident I don’t think there is a good level of understanding of how hard it is to be a union delegate in a rural community.
I think your point is well made Trevor.
This is a nasty dispute in which ordinary workers are just trying to exercise their legal right to conclude a collective agreement.
It is tough enough in a city where you are surrounded by thousands of other unionised workers, but in a rural area it is even tougher.
John, may I suggest ALL disputes are potentially nasty .. the thing is to get a strong yet flexible/wise delegate and an employer (or their representative) who is realistic and can see the benefit of a happy workforce .. happy means a reasonable wage and conditions that give the workers a sense of engagement .. good luck to workers and company.
This dispute is particularly nasty Jabba because of the absolute determination by OCC not to enter into a collective agreement and not to have a union on their worksite.
The Employment Court pointed out the illegality of the OCC position when it ruled its lockout illegal, but its response was to sack the elected workplace delegate and to suspend all the unionised workforce.
This is not the sign of an employer who “is realistic and can see the benefits of a happy workforce”.
While I would wish the workers luck I am not sure why you would wish the company any luck at all.
Impressive photo gallery behind the front row, too.
And good on the two props, having to pack down against the likes of their employers, especially in a rural environment. It can be lonely out there, far from the city and that support base which cities have had traditionally for workers.
How tough? A former Labour MP, after two terms in a mostly National held seat, had his barn burnt down on election night and was blacklisted from employment.
As for the hooker, good for you, Trev, in all your battles- you’re looking good.
Kia kaha, e hoa ma.
Yes, I think it’s great that you’re lending your support to those workers
[...] the Open Country Cheese delegates
What is the right to force a collective agreement on an employer? Labour took this out of the original ERA bill in 2000 because of the “winter of discontent”, They then snuck it back in in 2004, the difference this time was they simply ignored the opposition to it.
A collective agreement where workers doing the same work get the same pay saves the feeling you get when you find out the guy that you’ve been showing how to do a job and carrying that same guy for months gets $3 an hour more than you do.
Im not very happy with Jon Key’s current suggestion about Union’s. I remember 1991 and it sucked to be a new worker in an industrial work place without knowing who to trust and who to rely on.