Around 35 FIRST Union members who work for Cardinal Logistics in Auckland have been illegally locked out of work today after withdrawing their labour earlier this week following more than a year and a half of unproductive negotiations with the company over a new Collective Agreement.

Olly Paegotau, FIRST Union organiser, said Cardinal Logistics were enforcing an illegal and intimidatory lockout as retribution against union members for taking legal strike actions this week.

He said the union received a lockout notice at 6:30pm last night from Cardinal Logistics CEO, Brendon Furness. The communication states that the period of notice for the lockout is 96 hours, though only 11.5 hours’ notice was provided, and this constituted no notice given the communication was sent outside of business hours, Mr Paegotau said. The notice states the lockout began at 6am this morning (28 November) and ends at 6am on 2 November - in other words, the lockout has ended before it has begun. Union members turned up to work at 6am this morning as normal but were told they could not work based on this unlawful notice.

"This is disgusting, bullying behaviour from a large logistics chain that think they have a unilateral ability to dictate bargaining with their workers," said Mr Paegotau.

"We’ve wasted more than a year and a half attempting to negotiate with an employer that frankly, does not give a stuff about fair wage rises or their workers’ voices and is determined to break our union in the workplace."

"But they have miscalculated and as usual, underestimated the strength and solidarity of their workers."

FIRST Union has consulted its legal team who have advised that the lockout notice lacks basic requirements under the Employment Relations Act 2000 and must be withdrawn immediately, and members must be paid and will be returning to work today and tomorrow.

Mr Paegotau said union members have consistently expressed a desire for fair and productive negotiations with Cardinal and felt that a total withdrawal of labour, as took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, was the only option available to make workers’ voices heard.

"It’s a new low from a New Zealand company and a real blast from the past," said Mr Paegotau. "Workers really can’t believe that Cardinal would be this aggressive and naïve in their approach to employment relations."

"We’ve taken legal and considered strike actions and the company has responded with lies, fear and now a lockout."

"It’s heartless, stupid and cruel, and it will not stand."

Background information: 

(This information was provided to media in FIRST Union's press release from 26 November)

• FIRST Union and Cardinal Logistics were parties to a Collective Agreement that expired on March 31, 2023.
• FIRST Union initiated bargaining in March 2023 and have subsequently met with the company on multiple occasions.
• On 29 April 2024, the Company’s Head of People and Talent, Louise Baird, wrote to the Union incorrectly claiming that because "it had been more than 12 months since the expiry [of the CA] ... the terms and conditions no longer stand" and that the Company was "prepared to meet but this will be to negotiate a new CEA".
• On 3 May 2024, the Company wrote to Union members directly and incorrectly claimed that due to the expiry of the CA, Union members were employed "on individual employment agreements which are consistent with our other Cardinal staff".
• FIRST Union alleges that there have been multiple sustained and deliberate breaches of good faith bargaining by Cardinal Logistics, including:
• a) Communicating with Union members in a misleading manner in an attempt to undermine the bargaining and the Union
• b) Engaging in unlawful undue influence with the intention of inducing members to cease to be Union members and therefore not be involved in bargaining for a collective agreement or be covered by a collective agreement
• c) Tabling completely new proposals and revoking existing offers without compelling reasons
• d) Refusing to respond to the Union’s counter proposal
• e) Unilaterally terminating bargaining without genuine reason in breach of section 33 of the Employment Relations Act.

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