Late this afternoon FENZ filed an urgent application in the Employment Relations Authority for facilitation.  We can’t tell you anything about that application because they did not have the courtesy to copy us in or send it to us.  We will receive it from the ERA tomorrow.

This is the latest example of dishonest and deceptive conduct by FENZ.

Last Wednesday (10^th August) the NZPFU tabled revised claims that had taken on board some of the issues discussed during mediation.  FENZ left the mediation on Thursday undertaking to cost the revised claims and respond.  Both parties left with some “homework” to do on a couple of matters and the parties had also asked the Mediator to put together a proposal for processes to deal with some matters post settlement.

FENZ did not state or indicate that they thought the process had been exhausted and that they were not prepared to return to mediation.

FENZ did not mention facilitation at all during those two days.

This week the Mediator had been in contact with both parties wanting to assist with progressing the matters.  The NZPFU wanted to return to mediation as we believed there were a number of matters that we could work together to progress.

FENZ refused to meet again this week stating they had not completed a financial analysis of the NZPFU revised claims and were unlikely to have a response before the end of the week.  Again they did not state in their correspondence that they thought the mediation process was exhausted.

In the past 24 hours they have written to the NZPFU requesting we agree to facilitation, and then filed regardless.

FENZ’s behaviour has been in the least deceptive if not outright dishonest.  It is the antithesis of good faith. 

FENZ has employed every delay tactic it could over the past 14 months to prolong the bargaining so this has clearly been a strategy from early on.  They are aborting a process that was arranged with the support of the Minister in favour of lengthy and costly litigation that may end up in non-binding recommendations and therefore only delay any prospect of resolution.

FENZ would be better to spend the public funding and their energy on resolving the bargaining.

The disrespect to the NZPFU membership is unfathomable.

Once the NZPFU has received the application we will seek advice before notifying members of the NZPFU response.

In unity,
National Secretary
Wattie Watson