Otago Southland Meat Workers’ Union president Daryl Carran said possibly more than 200 employees were owed money — reportedly more than $1million in total — for rest breaks dating back to 2009.
Mr Carran said he understood if employees felt as if the company was stalling and he sympathised with those who felt there had been no justice.
"To be honest with you, it’s something that I can understand the workers not having any patience for, because quite frankly my patience has run out on it a long time ago too," he said.
"This is just typical of what employers do when they don’t want to pay something — just keep appealing things."
Jim Goodall, of Lean Meats Oamaru, said he felt for the employees, but he said this was "definitely not a case of stalling".
"It probably feels like that to the employees because it’s been going on for a long time," Mr Goodall said.
"There is clearly a question in our mind on the interpretation of law, which we have taken to the Court of Appeal.
"The union’s done a really nice grandstand job here, creating expectation within their members that there is a large sum of money due to each of them."
In May last year, the Employment Relations Authority found in favour of the union, which claimed Lean Meats Oamaru Ltd had not paid affected employees an adequate amount for rest breaks, and consequentially overtime, dating back to 2009.
The decision was challenged in the Employment Court in Christchurch on the grounds the company had included pay for rest breaks in workers’ pay when it negotiated the relevant collective employment agreements.
But in October last year, Judge Bruce Corkill upheld the authority’s decision.
Fairfax reported last year when the company applied for leave to the Court of Appeal to appeal against the Employment Court decision, it could owe more than $1million to employees for unpaid work breaks.
Mr Goodall said the company had been granted leave to have the Court of Appeal hearing.
He had been contacted this week by the Court of Appeal to set a date for the hearing and he expected the matter to be heard before the end of the year.
The Court of Appeal confirmed this week a date had not been set for the appeal to be heard.
Mr Carran said the number of affected employees "could be over 200".
There would be employees who worked at the site from 2009 who no longer worked at the abattoir.
In December last year, NZ Binxi Oamaru, a subsidiary of the Heilongjiang Binxi Cattle Industry Company, bought the remaining shareholding of the meat works from Lean Meats Ltd.
The meat works now operates as Oamaru Meats Ltd.
Oamaru Meats director Richard Thorp, a former chief executive of Lean Meats, said he could not comment on the matter.
"I don’t have any direct association with this [matter]," he said.
