2006 Progressive Enterprises dispute
Union organiser Stan Renwick stated "This strike has become much more than a fight between distribution workers and Progressive, it's becoming a fight between the communities of Mangere, Palmerston North and Christchurch and $1.1 billion dollars of Australian profit,"[6] Following the strike the company locked out the workers indefinitely, calling the union demands unrealistic.
[7] That same day a spokesperson for the company told the Gisborne Herald that there were certainly empty gaps on shelves at most supermarkets, although this was not having an impact on sales, with customers substituting out of stock items for different brands.
[18] The Maritime Union of New Zealand issued a statement pledging "financial, practical and moral support for the workers and their pickets"[19] and threatened to stop unloading supermarket goods at the wharves.
Maritime union members voted to each contribute one hour of pay to the locked out worker fund each week until the dispute was settled.
[24] At an executive board meeting held in Singapore on 14–16 September, the ICFTU-APRO, part of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions representing 30 million workers in the Asia-Pacific region condemned what it saw as "This heavy-handed pressure by a major corporate employer to force low-paid workers to relinquish their right to bargain collectively as guaranteed by ILO Conventions and New Zealand law.
[27] An editorial in the Nelson Mail called the dispute "a disturbing reminder of the past, when unions had the power to shut down an entire industry – and sometimes used it.
"[28] The government did not make any official statement about the dispute, however one individual cabinet minister, Steve Maharey, whose electorate includes the Palmerston North distribution centre made a token donation of $200 to the unions locked out worker fund.
[29] The opposition National Party put out a press release critical of the workers, mistakenly calling the industrial dispute a 'strike' when it was actually a lockout.
[citation needed] Both sides of the dispute claimed victory when an agreement was reached between the company and the two unions representing its employees on 21 September.
NDU delegate Karl Skivington told National Radio that 49 per cent of workers there voted against accepting the deal from Progressive, and that many of them were "still angry" and in no mood to rush back to work for employers who had locked them out.
[37] On 12 October The Press reported that Marty Hamnett who had been CEO of Progressive Enterprises during the dispute, was leaving his position to "return to work in Australia for family reasons"[38] Negotiations between Progressive Enterprises employees at the Southmore Meat Processing Plant represented by The Meat Workers Union continued after a settlement was reached for the workers at distribution centers, as of 20 October union negotiators had just come out of mediation with a deal to take back to the membership to be voted on.
