Affco manager resigns

Affco general manager Andy Leonard has resigned after only two years in the job.

A meat industry source revealed his sudden departure from the Talley’s-owned meat processor following a meeting on October 3. An Affco spokeswoman said chief financial officer Nigel Stevens had stepped into the job on an interim basis.

Leonard said he did not want to comment on his reasons for standing down. He would not say what his next career move might be.

In recent years Affco has been embroiled in a number of court tussles with the Meatworkers Union.

Recently the Supreme Court ruled Affco unlawfully locked out seasonal meatworkers from its Wairoa processing works in 2015, after it wanted them to sign new individual agreements which were much less favourable than the earlier collective agreement.

Questions have also been raised about the level of safety at Affco meatworks. In one case the company was ordered to pay a worker $55,000 after a meat hook impaled him in the face.

Meatworkers Union national secretary Graham Cooke said the abrupt parting of the ways between Leonard and Affco came as no surprise in light of Talley’s confrontational approach to industrial relations.

Patriarch of the Talley’s empire Sir Peter Talley set out his views on unions in an April 2014 submission to Parliament on changes to health and safety laws, blaming them for influencing the bill.