The truck drivers refused to cross the picket line after union members “parked their cars across the road and stood in front of the trucks,” said EPMU organiser Robert Popata. The union members then met and voted to extend their strike indefinitely, he said. Union delegate (shop steward) Ross Candy said they have signed up three of the truck drivers to the union.

On October 7, some 80 workers marched through Auckland to the company’s head office to press their demands. Workers began their hikoi (Maori for march) the previous day at their picket line here in Ruakaka, 100 miles to the north, driving for stretches and marching through towns on the way. “Watch out Carter Holt Harvey, here we come!” they sang, to the tune of “She’ll Be Coming ’Round the Mountain.”

The bosses at Carter Holt Harvey, New Zealand’s largest forestry company, have refused contract talks while the strike is on. They are offering a 3 percent wage increase—the starting rate is around $14 an hour (NZ$1=US 70 cents)—and are demanding the return of one week of the four weeks’ annual holiday in the union contract.

The picket at the factory goes around the clock. An EPMU caravan (trailer) and a National Distribution Union bus provide shelter at the site. The nearby port and oil refinery at Marsden Point ensure a traffic of trucks and other vehicles, many of which toot their support. Local workers, farmers, and store-holders are providing solidarity.

Terry Coggan contributed to this article.  
 
 
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