Sugar and strike if pay isn't nice

About 100 Auckland sugar refinery workers have spat out a company pay offer as not sweet enough and shut down production with an open-ended strike.

National Distribution Union advocate Karl Andersen said last night that the strike, which started yesterday morning at the Chelsea plant in Birkenhead, the country's only sugar refinery, could soon start hurting big customers such as breweries and soft-drink makers.

He said supermarkets would still stock sugar in imported packages, but industrial customers were heavily dependent on Chelsea for what were usually "just-in-time" supplies.

However, he said that the refinery's management had ramped up production considerably in the past two weeks or so in case of a strike.

The company could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Amatil said that it had enough sugar to fulfil orders.

DB Breweries managing director Brian Blake said he had not heard of any difficulties threatening the replenishment of stocks.

Mr Andersen said the strike was in protest at an unacceptable pay offer, the amount of which he would not disclose. He denied it was part of any wider labour movement push for a 5 per cent rise.

* Ambulance patients may get free rides to hospital from tomorrow if a union strike prevents bills being sent to them.

Mr Andersen said the strike by more than 300 ambulance officers in Auckland, Northland and Coromandel would extend only to a ban on paperwork.

"We can't stop the trucks or people will die," he said.

But he said the refusal to perform paperwork in support of a wage rise would prevent bills from being sent to patients and claims being made for accident compensation and Ministry of Health subsidy payments.

Mr Andersen said the ban would continue "indefinitely".

* Workers at National Aluminium in Hamilton will strike today in support of their 5 per cent pay claim.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary Andrew Little said the workers had overwhelmingly rejected a 4.25 per cent pay offer. Five per cent "was the going rate across the country".

The workers will strike for 24 hours and next week will continue with an overtime ban.

- additional reporting by NZPA