Sixty workers, members of the New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, are occupying the plant and maintaining a picket line on the state highway outside, refusing any longer to work the unsafe shift pattern imposed by the company.

Leslie explained that previously the mill had worked three eight-hour shifts, but that in August the company cancelled the day shift and required its employees to work alternate afternoon and night shifts. "They say they need the days to carry out major upgrades, but these were finished months ago. And anyway, carrying out maintenance has never been a problem in the past," he said.

On the morning of December 11 the workers themselves instituted a day shift, and worked for an hour before the company shut down the machines.

Workers then began a round-the-clock occupation of the mill, following a three-shift roster. "We're here and willing to start work at anytime, if the company agrees to real negotiations about future shifts," said Leslie.

Workers on rotating shifts at the mill point out that they need the week on day shift to let their bodies regain a natural rhythm, and to reestablish social contact with family and friends. They cite two accidents as evidence of increased levels of fatigue since the company imposed the two-shift roster.

Hotio Ngata, who is married to a mill worker, said "The shifts led to stresses and strains in a lot of families, but all the wives and partners have found it within themselves to come forward and support the workers." Ngata also gave examples of support in the town for the stand taken by the mill workers. "The local marae [Maori community centre] has sent mattresses, and several local businesses have donated food and other supplies."

Workers from other factories in the area, especially from the 1000-strong workforce at the nearby Kinleith pulp and paper mill, also owned by Carter Holt Harvey, have visited the occupation to offer their support. Victoria Toraro, one of six women production workers at the mill, told the Militant, "The company is using the day shift thing as a weapon against us to get what they want." She explained that earlier this year the company made 60 workers at the plant redundant, despite union actions like marches in Tokoroa and a picket at Carter Holt Harvey's head office in Auckland protesting the job losses. Since then the company has been trying to introduce a system of two 10-hour shifts. The first shift would start at 4:30 in the morning, and the second at 5:00 in the evening, with a "window" in the middle of the day for maintenance. The union has rejected the company's proposals. "That's not much better than what we're doing now," Tarano said.

Tony, one of the picketing workers, pointed out, "The company is using our side as a test. If they can get the new conditions through here, they will run them through the rest of their sites, including Kinleith."

Carter Holt Harvey is also facing resistance from workers on another front. In late November and early December, Waterfront Workers Union members and supporters staged pickets to defend their jobs and union rights in the South Island ports of Bluff and Port Chalmers after the company contracted a new outfit--Mainland Stevedoring--to load ships with logs. Mainland employs casual labor, and has just registered a company union.

Mainland's director, Greg Dickson, touts his company as "New Zealand–owned" in contrast to "overseas-owned" competitors. According to the National Business Review, he claims to offer "alternative services to port users [and] exporters...when wage pressure [is] building significantly on the waterfront."

Terry Coggan is a member of the National Distribution Union in Auckland.  
 
 
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