Staff at a well-known Kiwi company planned to gatecrash a barbecue with Hurricanes players at the company’s headquarters, accusing the business of using the team to “launder” its image amid a long-running living wage dispute.
Resene factory workers have been locked in negotiations since September, seeking to be paid the living wage of $28.95.
The company organised a barbecue in Lower Hutt this afternoon with the Hurricanes as part of its sponsorship deal with the Super Rugby club. They have been in a three-year sponsorship deal since 2024.
However, the event was cancelled an hour before the protest outside headquarters.
Standing in paint-splattered boots and hi-vis, workers said the company should prioritise paying staff enough to live decent lives before spending money on what they describe as vanity projects.
“We matter as much as the Hurricanes,” E tū union delegate for Resene Margaret Jackson told the Herald.
E tū Union previously estimated Resene would need to pay an extra $200,000 a year to lift members to the living wage, describing that figure as “a drop in the ocean” compared with the company’s revenue and overall budget.
Having been back at work that morning after two days on strike, Jackson said tensions were high with managers, treating them with an “attitude” and “picking” at mistakes.
Factory workers had previously spoken publicly about being unable to afford birthday presents for their children and surviving on canned food because of low wages and high living costs.
Speaking to the crowd of staff and supporters, Jackson said, “Nick Nightingale and his team would bend over backwards to put more effort and profits into sponsorships like the Hurricanes, than give back to us workers.”
Jackson said workers were tired of juggling bill payments “just to feel normal and see our families over the holiday period”.
Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand launched a campaign last year calling on Resene to pay the living wage, a regularly revised hourly rate that its proponents say represents the minimum required to meet basic needs, modest leisure activities, and rainy-day savings.
For employers who sign up to it, the wage is set as a base rate for their staff.
Union members first went on strike in October after Resene offered an average of 76 cents per hour extra to workers, many of whom earn just above the minimum wage of $23.50.
Resene also offered a 2% increase to two allowances, equating to about 26 cents more for meal allowances on lengthy shifts and 28 cents extra for a first aid allowance.
E tū delegate for Resene Lui Betham described the offer at the time as “pretty much a kick in the guts”.
Further strike action followed late last year and again earlier this week.
The company’s current offer has remained at an extra 86 cents per hour for several months, rather than moving to a living wage.
Most factory workers are paid around $25 an hour.
“It is clear that Resene’s short-term marketing goals in sponsoring the Hurricanes, while ignoring and neglecting us, are showing workers that the company’s priorities do not lie with the wellbeing of its workers,” said E tū delegate Ben Bear.
“I doubt many of these players realise how hard it is for these workers to make ends meet.”
Living Wage lead community organiser Finn Cordwell said workers and supporters were united in their belief that the Hurricanes were “being used to launder Resene’s image while the company refuses to pay its workers enough to live with dignity”.
This week, members voted to strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, and again from 12.30pm today during the Hurricanes team barbecue, to press the company to pay at least the living wage and to protest its sponsorship spending.
Workers have also received support from the Naenae community, which has regularly raised money to help cover lost wages during strikes.
Reverend Alison Robinson of nearby St David’s Anglican Church said the church was also committed to supporting the campaign.
“The living wage should come before sponsorship- and happy workers are the best advertising for the company as well as the most fruitful investment for a company concerned about its bottom line,” she said.
Resene, which has its head office and main manufacturing sites in the Hutt Valley, earlier provided a short statement to the Herald.
“Our offer is consistent with the manufacturing sector annual wage increase for the current 12-month period. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with the E Tū union, who represent a small segment of our manufacturing workforce,” a spokesman said at the time.
An email sent to multiple members of the community from managing director Nick Nightingale earlier this year said the company did not intend to join the living wage scheme.
He said the living wage concept was a “blunt approach” that did not factor in differences between low and high-performing workers.
“This is not an approach I agree with,” he said.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years. She is not related to Resene’s Nick Nightingale.