Section 26

Union Meetings - Your Rights 

Paid union meetings are your work right under Section 26 of the Employment Relations Act.

You can attend two two-hour union meetings during work time per year.

You will not lose any pay for being off site for up to two hours of work time (plus your lunch-break) to attend the meeting.

These meetings are separate from bargaining meetings and other union meetings you may have at work.

The union has to give your employer at least two weeks' notice of these meetings.

Your employer can insist that the business continues running, and so some cover might have to be arranged.

However, since your employer gets at least two weeks' notice we would expect them to use non-union workers (the management team, for example) to keep the plant running.

If your supervisor or manager wants to talk to you about the rally, please tell them to contact us.

If they say they haven't received notice from the Union, let us know.

For more information or if you have any problems with your employer contact the Union Support Centre on 0800 186 466 or email us@epmu.org.nz.