5 July 2001

Greens support Sanford workers

Green Party Labour Spokesperson Sue Bradford today sent a supporting letter to the striking workers at the Sanford fish factories in Bluff and Timaru.

"I spent a lot of last year working on the Employment Relations Act which we supported on the basis that it would clearly open the way to workers being able, should they want, to negotiate collective and multi-site agreements," said Ms Bradford. "It was also supposed to stop companies bringing in non-unionised replacement labour from outside.

"It is clear that some employers like Sanford, INL and The New Zealand Herald are determined to resist the impact of the ERA. The Greens fully support the striking workers in their struggle to obtain just collective agreements."

Ms Bradford said that in the end, industrial legislation was only as good as the will of the workers to stand together and stand strong for their rights.

Workers in Sanford's fish factories in Bluff and Timaru went out on a 24-hour strike on 25 June in support of negotiating a collective agreement with the two sites and Sanford's management. When they tried to go back to work a day later, they were told they should first guarantee there would be no strike again. The workers did not agree to those terms and have had no work since.

ENDS

© Scoop Media