May 5, 2004

Media Release

Keep the court, says union

New Zealand’s largest union says that it will vigorously oppose any move to abolish the Employment Court.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary Andrew Little said that the court performed a vital function for New Zealand’s 1.9 million-strong workforce.

The Northern Employers and Manufacturers’ Association has called for the court to be scrapped, saying that appeals of Employment Relations Authority decisions should go directly to the High Court.

Mr Little said that the relationship between employees and their employers was a special one which went well beyond the usual scope of contract law.

“It is important that we have a court where the judges understand the complexities of that relationship and are experienced at weighing up the conflicting rights and responsibilities,” he said.

Mr Little said this was clearly demonstrated in the recent union case against Air New Zealand’s plans to introduce random drugs testing of its workforce.

Ends

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EPMU - Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union

Proudly representing New Zealand workers

The EPMU is a democratic union representing over thirty thousand members in ten industries across New Zealand.
By standing together in a union workers get higher wages and better conditions.
As the country's biggest private sector union the EPMU can provide members with workplace representation, legal advice, a freephone support centre, work rights education and broad representation through the EPMU's campaigning and research work.
We campaign for fairness at work and a strong economy based on skilled jobs and investment in manufacturing.

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• Website - www.epmu.org.nz/
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