Metal workers union to deal directly with employers

Bosses' representatives have refused to negotiate with unions over the metals agreement, prompting bargaining with employers directly, the union says.

Up to 2000 workers covered by the Metals and Manufacturing Industries Collective Agreement took strike action last Friday to protest the Employers and Manufacturers Association's (EMA) "final offer" of a 4 per cent wage rise. The workers are seeking a 5 per cent.

The EMA has refused to continue negotiations on the metals agreement, the Engineers, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) said today.

"The EMA has announced they regard bargaining to be at an end -- for the second time -- and has advised us they are no longer acting for their employers," EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said.

"Given that the EMA is now out of the picture, we'll now deal directly with the employers concerned," he said.

The EMA had suggested to its employers they were free to deal with employees on an individual basis, he said.

"That was clearly wrong and would have put those employers at odds with the law," Mr Little said.

"We've since advised both the EMA and the employers they're not free to deal with their employees individually, there is a collective agreement and we are still bargaining as far as we are concerned."

The union was currently dealing directly with 33 of the 200 employers covered by the collective agreement.

The EMA's description of last week's strike as the "beginning of the end" for the metals agreement showed its philosophical opposition to multi-employer collective agreements, Mr Little said.

In Thames, 88 workers at the engineering company A and G Price began a 24-hour strike today.

In Wellington, 12 printers at City Print would picket their central city plant.

In Christchurch, maintenance workers at Firestone were entering their second week of industrial action, and miners at the Huntly East and Rotowaru mines continued their action today.

EMA northern chief executive Alasdair Thompson said today the association wasn't involved in contract negotiations but confirmed its negotiator who had been dealing with the union had pulled out of discussions.

"He no longer has authority to act because the employers group consider negotiations have concluded," he said.

"It's always been a challenge to achieve a one size fits all wage settlement when you're dealing with a whole lot of employers right across New Zealand in one industry.

"Not all of them have the same levels of productivity, not all of them have the same levels of profitability. There are many different factors which affect their ability or otherwise to pay."

- NZPA