A nearly 30-year understanding between a cement manufacturer and its union has survived a challenge from the employer.
New Zealand's Employment Relations Authority ruled on October 5, 2026 that Golden Bay Cement - a division of Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure - could not compel shift workers to work overtime during planned maintenance shutdowns. The Authority declined the company's application outright.
The fight was over a single question: does the collective agreement give the employer the right to direct production shift workers onto shutdown overtime rosters?
Golden Bay Cement said yes. The union said not a chance.
The collective agreement pays workers under what is called a stable income plan - an annualised salary covering a set number of hours, with an overtime component built in. The employer argued that because workers are compensated for overtime availability, they can be directed to work those hours whenever the business needs them. Shutdowns included.
But the way it had actually worked, for nearly three decades, told a different story.
Since 1996, when the stable income plan was first introduced, shift workers at the company's Portland Plant in Whangarei had never been required to work overtime during the twice-yearly maintenance shutdowns. Shutdown overtime was volunteered for. It was allocated by reference to skill, availability, and personal circumstances. Both sides operated on that basis without issue.
Then, in April 2024, the employer flagged a...
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