About 40 protesters stood with placards and posters along the entrance road leading into the factory on Wednesday afternoon. About half were members of the activist group Voices for Freedom who were supporting the workers.
The proposal for a vaccine mandate policy for Fonterra workers was open for consultation in December 2021 after a risk assessment was undertaken. The decision on the proposal has not been made yet as feedback is still being analysed but if it goes ahead it will be from March 1.
Fonterra employee Ben Thomas said he was protesting because if he was not fully vaccinated he would likely lose his job and he did not think that was fair.
“We are waiting for the final verdict.”
“I should have a choice of what I put in my body,” Thomas said.
Fellow employee and protester Lorraine Pike said she was surprised they were putting pressure on staff.
“It’s a great place to work, and they’re so strong on health and safety. They look after their people so it [the mandate] is surprising and disappointing.”
Stuart Laing who has worked for the company for 31 years said he would be unhappy to lose his job but had an issue with the lack of informed consent.
“This is coercion.”
Another, who did not want to be named, said the employees were good enough to work through lockdowns and they were not vaxxed but were now being dropped like “hot spuds”.
“It feels like a kick in the guts especially when you have dependants.”
Employee and protester Steve Tucker said it was important to stand up for what people believed to be true and claimed the mandate proposal was based on flawed assumptions of an uncontrolled situation. He said during the lockdowns everyone had extra PPE and anyone entering the site had to have their temperature monitored he did not see why that could not continue.
“It’s [the mandate] causing segregation and division. It’s undermining people’s rights to bodily autonomy.”
Fonterra director NZ Manufacturing Alan Van Der Nagel said they had been consulting employees on the proposal to require all roles in New Zealand to be carried out by people who are fully vaccinated.
He said the consultation period ended on December 27, 2021.
“We are now working through the feedback submitted during the consultation period. No decisions on the proposal have been made.”
Van Der Nagel confirmed if the policy was introduced it would be implemented from March 1, 2022.
“All roles across all Fonterra’s New Zealand sites would need to be performed by a vaccinated person.”
The Dairy Workers Union was contacted for comment.
