Story: Strikes and labour disputes

Kinleith strike poster, 1980

Kinleith strike poster, 1980

This Federation of Labour poster shows Bruce Scadden, a worker at the Kinleith pulp and paper mill, his wife Lorraine and three of their five children. In 1980 Bruce, along with other workers at the mill, went on strike to protest the Muldoon government’s wage and price freeze. The poster quotes him saying, ‘We’ve sold our car and then I just had to go along to the bank and get an overdraft.’ Other unions contributed funds to support Kinleith workers and their families during their successful three-month strike.

Image courtesy of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-C-ROTH-Labour-1980-01-front

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Strikes and labour disputes - Social impact of labour disputes', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/20506/kinleith-strike-poster-1980 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 1 Mar 2016