Eric Mischefski's a champion of the workers

The union organiser who got so far up the nose of the Wairoa Affco managers that they refused to meet him says he is relieved the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has come out in his favour.
ERA found Affco had to recognise the right of Eric Mischefski, an elected official of the union, to attend bargaining and other meetings as the union's representative.
Mr Mischefski looks like an escaped extra from a ZZ Top music video, but the reality is he is a highly literate and gifted orator who has represented North Island freezing workers for 24 years.
He said he was singled out for asking simple questions during union negotiations in Wairoa.
"I have the ability to read documents and understand what those words mean, so I guess I was an impedient to the company forcing change," he said.
"My intelligence was insulted a bit when I was told that the label on the front says it all."
He said the Wairoa community had been hugely affected by the move towards a non-unionised work force in Wairoa.
Social problems in Wairoa caused by the unusually long lay-off between the last seasons concerned him greatly.
"I have heard from a number of sources that children at school had a different attitude, more students going to school without lunches, that there was more domestic violence.
The plant atmosphere has changed as well, he said.
"There are two camps, those on individual agreements and those in the existing one, and those on the individual have been promised all sorts of stuff - which could be taken away from them at a moments notice."
"It's all in the name of cutting costs."
He said the uncertainty of the industry had to be mitigated with an employment contract that allowed experienced meat workers to plan their lives through seniority lists of who would be hired first and let go last. "Employers need to respect seniority provisions. People at the top of that list have the necessary skills and have come up through the ranks - and have got laid off earlier themselves.
"That gives people a certain idea of what their annual income might be, so they can identify if they can afford a house, a bigger family, where their kids should go to school. Just plain job security."
The role for workers on the chain had changed greatly over the years.
"Hygiene compliance and market requirements are a lot more stringent. That means the job is a lot more labour intensive, yet manning levels have been cut and an intensity placed on adding value."
Workplace conflict was basic but both sides had much in common, he said.
"You will always have the issue of capital versus labour - the interest are different. Employers like to maximise profits and workers like to maximise their earnings to make their way through life."
"Some employers rely on the ignorance of their workers so they are divorced from their rights.
"It is our role and function to advise them what their rights are - and sometimes to enforce them and write them into employment agreements.
"Our fees are $5.95 a week and if you want to be an independent you are paying $5.95 a minute to a lawyer."
Wairoa Affco employment negotiations held a special interest for him - the river town reminds him of his home town of Patea.
In 2008 the freezing works that had employed his father and grandfather closed, causing widespread unemployment.
"If the same was to happen to Wairoa it would be devastating."