Workers at Hubbard Foods are back in negotiations with management after industrial trouble that marred the rosy public image of the cereal maker.
Trouble flared at the Mangere plant last week when picketing workers said they were unhappy with their contract negotiations.
Company owner Dick Hubbard has often been lauded as the champion of a new style of business ethics for the way he treats his workforce.
Opposition MP and National Party spokesman for Pacific Island Affairs Arthur Anae this week joined in the Hubbard fray, saying his people were being used as pawns by trade unions.
The National list MP visited the Hubbard factory on Tuesday and spoke to some of the mostly Pacific Island workforce.
He said he was not using the workers or the dispute to gain political capital. He was just doing his job.
Darien Fenton, the general secretary of the Service and Food Workers' Union, which is representing the Hubbard workers, said Mr Anae's visit was not helpful to the continuing negotiations.
Hubbard talks restart
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