By JOSIE CLARKE
Cereal king Dick Hubbard feels bitten by the hands he has been feeding.
The man who pushes messages of social responsibility in business along with his flakes believes he has been singled out for his high profile and "blackmailed" by unionists in a dispute at his Mangere factory.
Up to 40 of the 130 workers at Hubbard Foods picketed outside the factory for 20 minutes during their lunch break yesterday, protesting against overtime conditions. They say they will be back today.
Just two years ago, the workplace was the envy of the country after Mr Hubbard shouted his staff to Samoa for a three-day weekend to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary.
Last night, the founder of Businesses for Social Responsibility said he planned to pay 10 per cent of pretax profit to his staff based on their length of service.
But the champion of a new model of business ethics is embroiled in an old-fashioned industrial dispute.
The Service and Food Workers' Union says employees have reached the end of their tolerance after trying to negotiate a new collective contract for a month.
Mr Hubbard said the protest had surprised and disappointed him, especially considering the company's commitment to good-faith bargaining.
"We pride ourselves on our relationship with staff. I believe the argument is probably more with the union than with staff."
The company's overtime wage bill would rise 30 to 40 per cent if it gave in to the union's claims for higher rates.
"We feel it is socially irresponsible to run the company at a loss," said Mr Hubbard.
At issue is a meal allowance for staff working more than two hours' overtime and an extra week's holiday for shift workers.
Union national secretary Darien Fenton said the huge amount of overtime required had added pressure to the family lives of the workers, who were mostly Pacific Island people from Mangere.
"The workers have to do long hours of overtime to earn a living wage. In some cases they're working 60 hours a week."
Workers earned between $9 and $11 an hour but Ms Fenton said it should be between $12 and $16.
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