Tiwai smelter appeals backpay decision

Union representatives say they are "disappointed" the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter has appealed a decision to pay its workers millions of dollars in backpay.

Last week, 64 union members at the smelter won an Employment Relations Authority case they took against New Zealand Aluminium Smelters that resulted in the smelter owing affected workers about $7 million.

The dispute was over the interpretation of lieu days for 12-hour shift workers at the plant.

The union claimed that since hundreds of employees shifted from 8 to 12-hour shifts about 20 years ago, the company had been incorrectly calculating their lieu day entitlements.

The company had continued to provide the 12-hour-shift workers with an additional 8 hours' paid leave in respect of each public holiday, whereas it should have been providing the workers with an additional 12 hours' paid leave for each public holiday, the union argued.

However, NZ Aluminium Smelters disagreed.

Employment Relations Authority member Mike Loftus ruled that workers were owed backpay from their employer for annual leave they were legally entitled to but never received.

He rejected the company's argument and ruled the workers were legally entitled to 12 hours' leave in lieu of a public holiday under their employment agreements.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union Southland organiser Trevor Hobbs said the appeal lodged yesterday was disappointing.

"NZAS failed to pay its employees their full legal entitlements over a number of years. We believe the time has come for the company to simply pay its workers what they are owed.

"New Zealanders understand that when you rack up a bill, you have to pay it back. It should be no different for Rio Tinto or any other company."

In the greater scheme of things, the calculation of lieu days would not have any material effect on the future of the smelter and to say so was scaremongering, he said.

Union general counsel Greg Lloyd said the union rejected claims the company could not afford to pay what it owed.

"Rio Tinto is a large company facing many challenges, but it is nonsense to claim the calculation of lieu days will have any material impact on the future of the Tiwai Pt smelter." NZ Aluminium Smelters acting general manager Stewart Hamilton said yesterday the decision would provide shift workers with 50 per cent more leave without any increase in their hours worked.

However, Mr Hobbs claimed the figure was deliberately misleading.

"In fact, it amounts to a 12 per cent increase in overall annual leave entitlements," Mr Hobbs said.

After considering the decision, NZ Aluminium Smelters was adamant its application of the lieu days benefit during the past 20 years had been fair and correct and complied with both the law and its contracts, Mr Hamilton said.

"The [authority's] decision imposes millions of dollars in additional costs on NZAS, both retrospectively and into the future, at a time when the smelter is already losing millions of dollars every month," Mr Hamilton said.

NZ Aluminium Smelters would not appeal unless it believed it had a strong case, he said.

The key reason for the appeal was a historic vote in 1993, when 90 per cent of staff voted in favour of the introduction of a 12-hour-shift roster, he said.