Industrial strife boiled over across the Bay as more than 200 meat workers were locked out of Affco's Rangiuru plant and police removed protesters at the port.
Both flashpoints relate to national union disagreements.
More than 200 meat workers in Rangiuru, near Te Puke, have been locked out by their employer, Affco.
Last Friday about 400 union workers in Rangiuru - with 1300 other union members across the country - went on strike in solidarity with 750 colleagues locked out at various Affco factories.
In response, Affco has now barred 213 Rangiuru union workers from the Bay of Plenty plant indefinitely. Of about 400 workers who went on strike on Friday, about half have been barred by the company from returning to work.
Kaipara McGarvey, New Zealand Meat Workers Union site president at Rangiuru, has been locked out. He said about 200 union workers not locked out were striking again today in solidarity with those that were locked out.
"Take myself ... I've got five children, my wife home schools and she does a fantastic job, but we've got a mortgage to pay, kids to feed. We'll be wondering where our next dollar is going to come from," he said.
Many union workers were given the ultimatum to either sign an individual contract with the company or face being locked out.
"The company is trying to split families as well as co-workers and now they want to create division at Rangiuru. Our management staff at Rangi are caught in the middle of this, it's hard for them too.
"The hierarchy have given them their directive - it's total dictatorial tactics they're using," he said.
The company was offering a 4.3 per cent pay rise over two years, but only if a new collective agreement was signed without dispute.
The union said the dispute was about flexibility of production and not about pay rises. Members were protesting against the casualisation of the workforce.
Rowan Ogg, Affco operations manager, said about half of the union workers at the Rangiuru plant have been kept on - enough to operate the production line.
"We need to operate teams, workable teams. What we didn't want to do was lock out everybody ... we don't particularly want to take it out on the [workers]."
He said the company didn't want to punish individuals, believing it was the union making trouble rather than individual employees.
The locked-out workers must remain away from the meat works "until the company calls them back", Mr Ogg said.
The Rangiuru plant would continue to operate today with a reduced workforce.
Meanwhile, further details have emerged regarding industrial action at the port at the weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday, the strike that had crippled the Ports of Auckland, spread to Sulphur Point in Tauranga as Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) members picketed against the unloading of a ship from Auckland.
The picket, which lasted from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, was, as reported in yesterday's Bay of Plenty Times, eventually overridden by an Employment Court injunction obtained by the Port of Tauranga.
Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) workers at the Port of Tauranga at Sulphur point were stopped from working on the Irene's Remedy on Sunday by MUNZ members who initiated a "hard picket".
The injunction was then granted and MUNZ members needed to be removed by police after linking arms across Mirrielees Rd to prevent access to Sulphur Point.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said MUNZ members were intimidating the port's RMTU employees, who cited health and safety concerns for not crossing the picket to unload the Irene's Remedy.
He said the picket related to the Ports of Auckland disputes and had nothing to do with Tauranga.
"We have no staff members working for us that are represented by the Maritime Union. They were using the RMTU and intimidating staff. Our staff were being used as pawns," he said.
RMTU national president Aubrey Wilkinson, who is based in Tauranga, said his union supported the maritime workers in Auckland but members were still required to do their job in Tauranga.
"We couldn't unload the vessel because there was a picket on. It was a hard picket.
"They actually blocked our members from going through. They demanded that we respect the picket," he said.
"There's solidarity between the two unions but that does get tested at times."
Mr Wilkinson said having to work on ships that were blacklisted in Auckland could be "a bitter pill to swallow", but "we do have to go to work".
The RMTU members remained outside the picket until the port's injunction was issued. Failing to return to work after that would have been seen as contempt of court.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota have also announced another round of strike action.