Tiwai Point in-lieu victory vindication

April 29th, 2016

Media Release

E tū lawyer: Tiwai Point in-lieu victory vindication after long legal battle

The former E tū lawyer who managed the Tiwai Point in-lieu case through to the Court of Appeal has welcomed as “fantastic” a Supreme Court decision which brings the four-year case to a close.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to allow an appeal by New Zealand Aluminium Smelters of earlier rulings upholding E tū’s argument, that smelter workers on 12-hour shifts should receive 12 hour in-lieu days for Statutory Holidays.

Until the union won the case, in-lieu days were calculated on the basis of an 8-hour day.

Greg Lloyd says: “It’s great to see the case we ran was upheld in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. It’s a vindication of the approach we took from the start.”

NZAS filed multiple appeals, arguing the Holidays Act 1981 precluded workers accruing an in-lieu day if they didn’t work the public holiday.

However, the Employment Court found the workers’ employment contract meant they were entitled to a day’s leave for a public holiday that falls on a non-working day – and the Court of Appeal agreed.

Greg Lloyd says in his view the company was simply trying to muddy the waters, and the dispute was always about paying in-lieu days as 12-hour, not 8-hour days.

ENDS

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