The Spark November 2009
Jared Phillips

The lockout of Talleys-owned Open Country Cheese workers came to an end in late October 2009 after a legal and industrial struggle waged by the Dairy Workers Union (DWU) and its members.

 The Open Country Cheese site is a self-contained dairy factory in Waharoa, a few minutes drive north of Matamata in the Waikato. The lock-out came after strike notification by the DWU. In other words, the employer issued the lock-out notice before the strike had officially begun, and marched workers off the site in mid-late September. [Read more…]

Media Release: Dairy Workers Union

The month-long lockout of workers at Talleys-owned Open Country Cheese is over after workers have secured their goal of collective employment agreement to cover their jobs.

“The members of our union at Open Country Cheese have stuck together right through this very difficult dispute,” Dairy Workers Union National Secretary James Ritchie said.

“All that these workers wanted was some basic job security through a collective employment agreement and they were illegally locked out for standing up for their rights.”

The company’s restructuring at the plant greatly reduced the number of positions available and a confidential settlement was reached for workers whose jobs have disappeared, he said.

“The workers were buoyed on by the very strong support of the Waharoa and wider Waikato community, and the solidarity of the union movement. Their stand for fairness at work shows that workers are stronger when they act together in unions,” James Ritchie said.

Don Franks

Somewhere out there is a strange land with strange customs. The head of an airline in this strange land gets paid $46,100 a week. A bus driver performing the essential job of taking passengers to the airport gets paid $544 a week. This is an experienced bus driver on the top rate.

Now the rent in this strange land, for a modest home in a working class suburb is $390 a week, more than two thirds of a bus drivers pay. A driver also has to pay for stuff like food, power, transport and things for the kids. A little money for recreation and entertainment would be nice too. A couple of hundred dollars isn’t enough to adequately cover these costs, so the drivers have to do something.

Bus drivers' rally Auckland

They get together in their union and ask the bus company for a pay rise. Not a lot, just enough for a modest living. Still about $45,000 a week less than the airline guy’s getting.

The bus company refuses to meet this request, so the drivers decide to express their discontent by working to rule. [Read more…]

Day five of the Auckland Bus Drivers lockout and the workers are still standing firm. The mood on the picket line at the North Shore depot was determined, with drivers saying they are prepared for a showdown that may last two weeks, like their last lockout four years ago.

Auckland bus drivers outside a bus depot

One longstanding driver told us: “When NZ Bus took over from Stagecoach a few years back, we thought, yay, we’ll see some improvement at last now it’s a New Zealand employer. But the truth is, they are no better than Stagecoach!”