Cheese factory lockout illegal: judge

38 staff at Waikato's Open Country cheese factory can return to work, an Employment Court judge says.

Locking out workers at a Waikato cheese factory was illegal, the Employment Court has ruled.

Open Country factory union members have been barred from returning to the Waharoa plant by management since Thursday night last week.

The lockout had been planned for six weeks, but judge ruled today it was illegal and the 38 staff members could return to work.

The judge reserved a decision on whether workers drafted in to replace staff involved in the industrial action was illegal, Radio New Zealand reported.

The Dairy Workers' Union told the court the company's reason for replacing the workers, that halting production would stress cattle and farmers, did not meet the legal standard to allow them to replace the staff.

But Open Country Cheese said some of the replacement workers were volunteers and that they had been engaged by its parent company Open Country Dairy Ltd, not the company itself.

- NZPA