Friction present in Cadbury process

Mondelez appears to have reached a stalemate with the union representing Cadbury workers and wants to close the consultation.

The union, Etu, says today's consultation meeting in Dunedin is a chance to get the process back on track, and prevent it ending up in court.

Etu industrial strategy director Neville Donaldson said Mondelez had not given detailed reasons for the proposed closure, which it was legally required to do in the consultation.

``We've been having problems with the process. We need to get it back on track.''

Last week, the company told the union it might decide to wrap things up and make a final decision.

``And my response to that was then we'd just put it in the hands of the lawyers and let the courts decide who's right and who's wrong.

``They're now starting to whinge [and say] `we need to bring it to a conclusion, this is surely enough time to have made a decision'.

``I'm saying it's not about time, it's about information, and if you'd given us all the information we needed, we might have dealt with it in a week,'' Mr Donaldson said.

One sticking point was Mondelez's claim that it looked at reducing production in Dunedin in order to keep the factory open.

Mr Donaldson said the union needed to know more about why that option was not viable.

If it had the information, it could suggest remedies or answers to enable the shift to reduced production, Mr Donaldson said.

The union was ``bending over backwards'' to be constructive and try to save at least some jobs.

Meetings are held about once a week throughout the consultation process. Today's meeting is the first since the weekend's rally in the Octagon.

After the rally, Mondelez lashed out at the union, claiming it had released confidential financial information, which the union denies.

Mr Donaldson said Mondelez's ``tetchiness'' reflected concern over the public reaction to the closure proposal.

At the meeting, three Mondelez representatives will appear by video-link from Tasmania and Melbourne alongside two Dunedin-based Cadbury managers. A team of about 10 union delegates and officials would face them, led by Mr Donaldson.

A statement from Mondelez yesterday confirmed the company wants to announce its decision.

``We have presented the detailed business case to the union and provided detailed responses to all of the union's requests for additional information since consultation began almost four weeks ago.

``We are now awaiting a substantive response from the union so that we can bring the consultation process to a close and provide certainty to our people and the community,'' the statement says.

The parties even disagree on just when the consultation period started, with Mondelez saying it started almost four weeks ago, and the union saying it started two weeks ago.

On February 16, Mondelez announced its plan to close the factory by March 2018, and lay off about 360 staff.

eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz