BY PATRICK BROWN
AND TERRY COGGAN  
AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Heading into the fourth week of a nationwide labor fight, 500 warehouse workers locked out by retail giant Progressive Enterprises had amassed solidarity from unions around the country, as well as in Australia and the United States.

On September 16—day 21 of the dispute—70 unionists and supporters rallied in the south Auckland suburb of Otara to hear speeches in Samoan and Tongan before fanning out to collect donations for their strike fund. Union contributions and street collections have swelled the fund to $200,000.

The contract fight escalated August 28 when the owners of Progressive Enterprises locked out 400 members of the National Distribution Union (NDU) and 100 members of the Engineers Union in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Christchurch. The lockout followed a 48-hour strike by these workers.

The company initially refused to discuss the workers’ demands for a national contract and equalization of wages and allowances in the three cities. The press reports that the latest round of talks, held September 19-20, has produced a deal. Union meetings are planned for September 21 to discuss and vote on the proposal.

Rallies, collections, and pickets, including flying pickets to attempt to deter trucks sent directly to the company’s supermarkets, have won widespread solidarity.

In Palmerston North dairy factory union members brought 52 cartons of cheese to the picket line. Workers at meat, garment, and sugar refining plants in Auckland have dropped off collections at the seven-day, 24-hour picket line, which stretches 100 yards in front of a complex of warehouses.

“Just now we had 50 people from the [Maritime Union] who came down with food and a cheque of $4,000 that they will bring every week until the dispute is settled,” wrote NDU shop steward Daniel Patea in the second issue of Locked Out, a joint union publication.

The wharfies’ (longshore workers) performed a haka, or Maori challenge. It was “awesome,” said Patea.

The union bulletin featured messages of support from maritime unions in Australia and the United States, and the U.S. trade union federation Change to Win.

The big-business media has expressed concern. “Nervous Business Community Watches Strike,” read a September 10 headline on the website of the Newstalk ZB radio news program.

Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive Alasdair Thompson said employers would “strenuously” resist demands for national contracts by other unions.
 
 
Related article:
On the Picket Line  
 
 
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