[MotherBear]

Lock out tests loyal supermarket customers
18 September 2006
By HELEN HARVEY and FAIRFAX

One supermarket's loss is another's gain. As the shelves at Woolworths thin out during the distribution workers' dispute, some of its shoppers are heading to greener pastures at New World. This is what the Manawatu Standard discovered in an early weekend check of the shelves at a couple of city supermarkets.

We wanted to see whether people are still able to buy their groceries at their first-choice stores or whether a dearth of goodies is forcing them to change allegiance.

At Woolworths, the checkout operators were cheerfully trotting out the party line that their shelves were still full and there was only a few things they couldn't get. And at first glance that appeared to be true apart from a few gaps most of the shelves were covered with products.

The clue that all was not as it seems was the number of little white notices apologising that a favourite product was not available. Curiously though, goods were lined up in rows above each note. Take the tinned fruit. Tins of peaches were standing side by side all along the shelf, looking for all the world to be packed in.

But appearances can be deceiving. First the peaches were only one row deep, secondly they were spread along a number of apology notes. Anyone not liking peaches were out of luck.

But all was not lost. One loyal shopper filled her trolley, determined to keep the faith. "It's good here," she said. "They're nice and always pack the bags for shoppers. They are trying hard and at the end of the day it's not their fault."

At Woolworths a checkout operator said things had been "dead as", while over at New World the word was it had been "like Christmas". Former Woollies stalwart Anne Moretti was stocking up at New World because "the shelves are full".

But it is only a temporary defection. She will go back to her old shopping ground once the lockout is over because it is closer to home. She supports the workers, she said, and always toots them when she drives past.

Meanwhile, delegates from three Australian unions are travelling to New Zealand to support locked out Progressive Enterprises distribution workers.

Six union members, from the Maritime Union of Australia, the Transport Workers' Union and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union were to arrive in Auckland this afternoon, and will be joining the picket lines for the next two weeks.

The three Australian unions have raised $15,000 for the locked-out New Zealanders, National Distribution Union secretary Laila Harre said.

"The workers have been overwhelmed by the level of local and international support for their cause. The collections fall well short of replacing their usual earnings but they do make a big difference." More than 500 workers are involved in the industrial action, which began on August 25.

Ms Harre said yesterday the union would be challenging the lawfulness of the lockout at an Employment Court hearing scheduled for tomorrow in Auckland.

- Manawatu Standard