Christchurch City Council and its lawyers are welcoming a Court of Appeal decision that clears the way for employers to communicate directly with unionised staff during contract negotiations.
The council has been partially successful in its appeal against a 2005 Employment Court ruling that it failed to comply
with its duty of good faith in communicating directly with staff negotiating a new collective agreement through the Southern Local Government Union in 2003 and 2004.
In its appeal, the council said its main concern was with the Employment Court's reasoning and its effect on the council's ability to communicate with its employees before and during future bargaining rounds.
Because the council's general concern was shared by many employers, Business New Zealand was granted permission to be heard.
In a recently released decision, the Court of Appeal formally dismissed the appeal, but acknowledged the council had succeeded on several of its arguments and noted that its future conduct would not be "quite as constrained as it would have been under the Employment Court's reasoning".
The court found the Employment Relations Act 2000 allowed parties to collective bargaining to communicate "statements of fact or opinion reasonably held about an employer's business or a union's affairs [including in relation to the bargaining] to persons for whom an authorised representative is acting," provided that the communication did not breach Section 32 (1) (d) of the Act.
It found also that Section 32 (1) (d) did not create a complete ban on communications relating to bargaining.
The court found that Parliament had not intended a broad ban on all communications by an employer to employees during bargaining.
The only communications in breach of the act would be those that amounted to an attempt to negotiate with employees about their terms and conditions, or that which undermined or were likely to undermine negotiations or unions' bargaining authority.
Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said that the CTU doubted the Court of Appeal comments would create any difficulty.
- NZPA
