KINLEITH '80 (1981, 38mins)

In 1980, workers at the Kinleith Pulp & Paper Mill in Kawerau formulated their claim for a 21% pay rise. They calculated this was required to maintain their traditional parity with workers at nearby Kawerau. Their employer, New Zealand Forest Products, was the largest company in the country and highly profitable. When it balked at the claim, a strike resulted. Led by rank-and-file delegates and employing canny tactics, the strikers received a decisive boost when the Federation of Labour swung in behind them. After eight weeks the company capitulated, but the National Government under Prime Minister Rob Muldoon used the Remuneration Act to cut back on the agreed increase. Defiantly, the strikers held out for another four weeks. Defeated, the Government withdrew its regulations and the workers received their 21% rise. They had won ‘the greatest worker victory he had ever seen’, declared FOL President Jim Knox. This film documents the factors crucial to the success of the struggle, including the involvement of women, the extensive welfare scheme, and the efforts of ‘roadrunners’ – delegates who spoke at stopwork meetings throughout the country to garner support.

credits
A film by:
GERD POHLMANN
ROD PROSSER
RUSSELL CAMPBELL
Music: ALISTAIR McQUILLAN, JOHN VESEY
Narrator: MERATA MITA
Library film: TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND
Photographs: SOUTH WAIKATO NEWS
© 1981 NZ Federation of Labour

Digital restoration:
This film was preserved in 2020 from the original 16mm master elements by Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision, with the support of Vanguard Films and E tū union.