The union representing the majority of 362 Dunedin Cadbury staff set to lose their jobs by the start of 2018 has called for the public not to boycott Cadbury’s chocolate.
In what was a shock for not only the 362 Cadbury’s staff but also the wider Dunedin community, US multinational Mondelez International announced on Thursday the closure of the profitable Dunedin plant, preferring to manufacture in Australia.
Union E tu’s industry co-ordinator Chas Muir said the factory closure was not just a poor economic decision but would "do huge harm to this brand, wherever the chocolate is produced".
He says, however, the workers want the public to continue to support local production, because that would secure their jobs until the factory closed, he said.
"Our union’s position is we don’t support boycotts if they threaten jobs," Mr Muir said.
While the union and workers would fight the closure proposal, Mr Muir urged the public to continue to post their support for staff on social media and other channels and lobby their MPs and political parties.
Related Stories
Comments
Why don't unions ever get stroppy any more? Taking on the 1% has become a thing of the past.
What difference will a boycott make to the local factory? 70% of the product is sent off shore anyway. I am sorry for the staff, but Mondelez are going to get as little of my money from here on in as possible. And Mondelez is the owner of a LOT of brands, so no more Philadelphia, The Natural Sweet Company, Kraft, Vegemite, Oreo, Toblerone, Ritz, Halls, to name a few.
If the company isn't going to show loyalty neither am I nor most of my friends.
A boycott won't cause jobs to be lost any faster at all, they will already have a timeline. As the closure is not due to losing money, but rather the fact that they want to increase the profits they are already making, the only chance of saving jobs is to demonstrate the closure will cost more than it saves and that can only be done via a boycott of their products . If the company won't support us, why support them? Continuing to purchase their products only endorses their actions.
As difficult as it may be to the outraged, it is the workers that come first. Comply with the union request. It won't do you any harm and could help the workers.