Backgrounder: Meat Workers Union vows to survive Affco stoush in face of legal bills, dwindling membership

By Jonathan Underhill
Sept. 7 (BusinessDesk) - The Meat Workers Union says it will survive the prolonged dispute with Affco New Zealand, which has resisted renewing an expired collective contract, despite ongoing legal costs and the inroads the company has made in signing workers to individual contracts.
The union describes the stoush as a battle between "one of the most powerful families and companies in New Zealand" with "great wealth and means" and workers who, individually, are "weak, without bargaining power". Graham Cooke, a former...
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