By MATHEW DEARNALEY
Veteran trade unionist Bill Andersen was arrested at an Auckland wood products plant yesterday in a test of new workplace access rules for union officials.
The 77-year-old National Distribution Union president and a fellow union organiser, Syd Keepa, were released on bail to appear in the Manukau District Court tomorrow charged with trespass.
The charges follow their entry to Carter Holt Harvey's Interion decorative wood panels plant in Browns Rd, Manurewa, where 62 workers have been on strike for almost two weeks. A manager offered to let the officials talk to management staff away from the factory floor, but the pair insisted on going to the floor to "monitor" compliance with the Employment Relations Act in the company's use of non-union labour to operate Machinery.
Union spokesman Peter Monteith said that the union believed it had a statutory right under section 20 of the legislation to ensure the company was not employing replacement labour in breach of section 97.
Sergeant Rob Crawford accepted that the case would probably become a test of new rules under the legislation, but said he ordered the arrests after taking legal advice.
Bail conditions prohibit the two officials from rejoining a day and night picket outside the plant, requiring them to stay on the other side of Browns Rd.
Meanwhile, a truck driver whose rig allegedly side-swiped picketing unionists and bruised them as it breached their lines on Tuesday will be charged with careless driving. He was not arrested as the Herald reported yesterday from a police press release.
Three unionists were arrested in two separate incidents last week as trucks tried to enter and leave the plant, where the company says management "volunteers" are trying to maintain limited production despite the picket outside.
The workers are seeking a 4 per cent pay rise against a company offer of 3 per cent, and want compensation for those facing reduced overtime from a change in shift patterns.
Veteran trade unionist arrested
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