EPMU Members Win Guarantees in Short Lockout by Amcor Packaging

Union members of ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union (EPMU) in New Zealand were back to work on 4 May, following a three-day lockout imposed by Australian-based Amcor paper and packaging company.

Fifty EPMU members were locked off their jobs at a paper converting facility in Auckland on 1 May. The workers were resisting staffing cuts that would have reduced the factory to unsafe manning levels.

“These workers were prepared to stick this out as long as it took,” stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. “They are relieved this dispute has come to a close so quickly.”

Amcor lock-out in New-Zealand

Added Little, “Our members tried to negotiate in good faith and were met with the most extreme and militant response an employer can make. It’s good to see common sense has prevailed and they can now get back to doing their jobs under fair and equitable circumstances.”

The negotiated end of the lockout consisted of maintaining staffing levels without redundancies, an extra week’s service and shift leave, the industry standard pay raise, and a day’s pay to cover part of the lockout period.

Amcor, a major global producer of flexible packaging, last week announced a European restructuring plan that could cut 900 of the company’s 7,600-member workforce in Europe. The plan focuses on shifting work to Eastern and Southern Europe. The company triggered this restructuring in February, by announcing construction of a plastic extrusion facility in Poland.