Union action at a toilet paper manufacturer could lead to a shortage of supply.
Pulp and Paper Union Kawerau union secretary Tane Phillip said supplies could dwindle because 145 workers had been locked out indefinitely without pay at Kawerau’s Essity mill, the manufacturer of Purex toilet paper.
The plant is the only place that produces toilet paper in New Zealand, while everything else is imported in. Workers at the Kawerau manufacturing plant had been locked out since August 9, after they called for an inflation adjustment to their pay as part of collective employment agreement negotiations.
Essity’s brands in New Zealand include Purex, Handee, Sorbent, Libra and Tork.
The action could see a return of scenes from 2020 when lockdown prompted some people to stockpile supplies and supermarket shelves ran bare.
