More Than 300 Warehouse Workers in New Zealand Strike Over Fears Automation Will Take Their Jobs

More than 300 workers from The Warehouse’s Auckland and Christchurch distribution centres are walking off the job for 24 hours on Thursday, along with drivers from the Noel Leeming installation fleet, over fears of major redundancies as a new robot and drones arrive. The Workers First Union wants the next collective agreement to require the company to consult, retrain and redeploy affected workers, and to agree with the union before any job-cutting technology is brought in. The Warehouse Group rejects the job-loss claims and denies any redundancies of permanent roles as a result of its new goods-to-person automation. For Metaintro readers who work in warehousing, retail or logistics, this guide sets out what each side claims, what pay is on the table, and what New Zealand employment rules already require when an employer brings in new technology that could change or remove a role.

What Is Happening at The Warehouse Distribution Centres?

The strike runs from Thursday 12 November, 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM, with a picket from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM on the same day. The picket lines are at 235 Roscommon Road, Wiri, Auckland and at the corner of Hoskyns Rd and State Highway 1, Rolleston.

Noel Leeming fleet drivers in Auckland also object to being rostered extra overtime runs without being asked, a practice the union considers unlawful.

The group is not anticipating disruption to its stores or customers from the action.

What Technology Are the Workers Worried About?

The union says a new robot is being installed in Auckland, AI drones are taking over stock-taking, and links both to growing fears of redundancy. The Auckland robot is meant to pack small items for new orders, and the drones are used for stocktaking inside the distribution centres.

Union organiser Hayley Courtney’s position is that the AI drones have already cut the physical inventory team and that the company is bringing in a massive robot to do ‘stock picking’.

Workers are not opposed to new technology to improve efficiency on the job, but they want certainty over their futures and protection against unmitigated redundancies, Courtney said. She added that We're not trying to kill the robot or AI by any means, and described the goal as protection for workers through redeployment to other areas and helping them find meaningful work within the company.

What Does The Warehouse Say About Jobs and Automation?

Chief people officer Richard Parker denied any job losses from introducing stocktaking drones at its distribution centres, adding that the company currently has three additional temp roles in this area.

Parker credits the drones with helping to improve stock accuracy and the customer experience, while making our distribution centres safer by removing the need for people to work at height in machinery every night.

On the wider automation programme, Parker added that new automation was designed to increase capacity and efficiency, and that the team was doing an excellent job learning new skills and working with new technology. The listed retailer rejects union claims regarding job losses at its distribution centres.

Parker acknowledged that, like any employer, he could not guarantee what roles would look like in the future, while saying the business would always look to retrain and redeploy people wherever it can in line with its obligations.

We’re seeking a mechanism so workers can’t simply be sacked and replaced when the technology arrives, union organiser Hayley Courtney said, according to the Workers First Union media advisory.

What Is the Union Asking For in the Next Contract?

The union’s claim would require the company to consult, retrain and redeploy affected workers, and to reach agreement with the union before any technology is implemented that could cut jobs.

A pay rise doesn’t fix this, Courtney argued, adding that ratifying the deal without protection would be like signing their own death warrant.

Workers First has previously argued, through its Take the Power Back policy paper, for the implementation of workplace AI agreements to protect employment amid the deployment of new technologies.

Parker rejects giving the union decision rights over technology, and maintains the company has consulted with the union and our team throughout our automation journey and will continue to do so.

Other unions have bargained over AI too, as with the Blizzard workers who won layoff recall rights and a say over AI in their first contract.

What Pay Is on the Table for Warehouse Distribution Workers?

The company’s proposed rates range from $31.19 to $58.40 an hour in New Zealand dollars (about US$17.37 to US$32.52). The offer carries a proposed pay increase of 3.5% in the first year and 3% in the second.

For context, average ordinary time hourly earnings across the country rose 2.9% to $44.86 in the year to the September 2026 quarter in New Zealand dollars (about US$24.98), in Stats NZ figures carried by HRD New Zealand.

Parker pointed to cost pressure, saying We’d always like to be able to do more for our team, but the reality is it remains a tough environment for the retail sector. The group has had to significantly reduce costs to be sustainable for a value retailer that employs around 10,000 people, he added.

At its 2026 Investor Day the group set a target of $100 million in operating profit within three to five years, compared with the $22.6m in operating profit from its 2026 full-year result, in New Zealand dollars (about US$55.7 million against US$12.6 million). It also plans capital expenditure of $40m-$60m annually, with 50% prioritised for new stores and core infrastructure (NZ$40m-$60m, about US$22.3 million to US$33.4 million).

When Is a Strike Legal in New Zealand?

The rules are set out by Employment New Zealand. Employees can legally strike if they are members of a union and collective bargaining talks break down, or if they believe there are serious health or safety issues at the workplace.

Union members can consider starting strike action after a union and employer have been in collective bargaining for more than 40 days. Unions must hold a secret ballot before members go on strike (unless a strike is for a health or safety issue), and the majority of members who vote must be in favour of the action for it to proceed. Parker also expressed respect for the decision of its distribution centre team members who voted in favour of strike action.

Before any strike starts, unions must give written notice of intention to strike to the employer and to the chief executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Here is what a striking worker should know about pay and cover:

• Pay: Employers do not have to pay employees if they suspend the employees while they are on strike.
• Service: A suspension lasts until the end of the strike (unless the employer stops the suspension earlier), but it doesn’t break the employee’s term of service.
• Replacements: An employer can only bring in someone else to do striking workers’ jobs if that person agrees and is already employed by the employer at the time the strike starts and has not been employed mainly to do the work of striking employees, or where there are reasonable safety or health reasons, and then only as far as needed to satisfy those safety or health reasons.
• Talks continue: Union representatives and the employer must keep bargaining during the strike to try to resolve their differences, in good faith.

What Must an Employer Do Before Cutting Roles for New Technology?

Employers must show a proposed change is for genuine business reasons, and the examples given are improved technology or financial reasons. The fuller list on the workplace change basics page also names more productive business processes and shifts in customer or market requirements.

Before deciding to make a role redundant, employers must genuinely consider other options, such as changing hours, duties or shifts or moving staff into other suitable roles (this is called ‘redeployment’). Employers must continue to consider other options throughout the redundancy process.

Employers must check if any potentially affected employees are union members, as affected employees and their unions will need to be consulted. The government steps for a workplace change run in this order:

• Develop a workplace change proposal (including reasons for the change).
• Identify who may be affected.
• Share the proposal with employees and unions.
• Gather feedback.
• Consider and respond to feedback.
• Make and communicate the decision.
• Implement the change.

Before a decision that will adversely affect the continuation of someone’s job, an employer must give the employee information so they can understand the situation and give the employee an opportunity to comment before making a decision.

The key gap is between consultation and agreement. The law asks employers to take employees’ feedback into account before making a final decision, while the union wants the company to reach agreement with the union before any technology is implemented that could cut jobs. The union is pursuing that extra step through bargaining for its next contract.

Is Retraining or Redeployment Guaranteed by Law?

Redeployment means the employee is moved into another suitable role instead, and the employer still has to follow the same redundancy process. If the employment agreement does not say anything about redeployment, the employer must still consider redeployment and offer it if it’s available.

Retraining appears in the government guidance on how roles are compared. A similar role is one where the worker may have the right skills, experience and attributes for the role, although they might have to do some retraining (for example, learning to use a new system). A different role is one where the worker might not have the rights skills or experience, even with retraining, and employees do not have to accept a redeployment to a different role unless their employment agreement allows for this. By contrast, employees generally must accept a redeployment to a role that’s the same or similar, and if they don’t, they could lose their job and their entitlement to redundancy pay.

An employer does not have to provide redundancy compensation, and employees can only get it if it’s in their employment agreement, in a workplace policy, or if they have agreed it with their employer. If the employer offers another role, compensation is only payable if it’s in the employment agreement.

A worker who thinks there was no genuine reason or no proper process can raise a personal grievance, or ask for mediation to help resolve the issue. A redundancy may not be genuine if an employer shortly afterwards hires someone else for an identical or sufficiently similar role. Workers who think their rights are not being met can call 0800 20 90 20.

No business can hand over business decision-making about its strategy, plans or use of technology to its union partner, chief people officer Richard Parker said, according to the NZ Herald report on the strike.

How Tough Is the Job Market for Warehouse Workers Who Lose a Role?

Many Auckland workers are older and have been loyal to the company through good times and bad, and they would struggle to find new work if they lost their jobs, Courtney warned. Some workers had worked for the company between 15 and 30 years, Courtney told RNZ in an interview carried by the Otago Daily Times.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in the September quarter, from 5.6%, and Westpac described it as continuing an almost five-year run of increases. There were 174,000 unemployed people in the September 2026 quarter, in Stats NZ figures carried by HRD New Zealand.

The underutilisation rate remained at 13.8%, and employment fell 0.1% in the quarter against expectations of a rise.

Casual employees went up by 19,100 (19.5%) to 116,900 over the year, and fixed-term employees went up by 8,100 (18.9%) to 50,900. That trend matters for workers weighing a secure permanent job against a temporary one.

Other New Zealand retail staff have been through the same process, as with Woolworths NZ customer-care staff facing job losses after consultation.

What This Means for Warehouse Workers, and What Should You Do Next?

The real fight here is not robots against people. The union is not trying to kill the robot or AI, and Parker could not guarantee what roles would look like in the future. The question is who gets a say, and in what document. Employers must consult and consider redeployment, but redundancy compensation is owed only if it is in an employment agreement, a workplace policy, or agreed with the employer. That makes contract talks the moment that counts, for warehouse staff and for anyone whose job sits next to a new machine.

• Read your own agreement now. Check its terms on redundancy pay, notice and redeployment.
• Learn the new kit. The company credits staff with learning new skills and working with new technology. The government guidance treats a role that needs some retraining, such as learning a new system, as a similar role, which matters if your current job changes.
• Use consultation if it comes. If you are an affected employee, you have the right to a reasonable time to respond and comment, including suggesting other options, and to have that feedback taken into account before a final decision.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: The machine is not the threat, the contract you sign next to it is. Learn the new kit first, and get the promises about your job in writing.

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People Also Asked

Q: Why are The Warehouse distribution workers striking?

A: Workers want assurances in their next contract and a say over what happens next, the union says, as a new robot and stocktaking drones arrive, and the union wants the company to consult, retrain and redeploy affected staff.

Q: Has The Warehouse cut jobs because of automation?

A: The union says the drones have already cut the physical inventory team, while the company says there have been no job losses from introducing stocktaking drones and no permanent roles made redundant by its goods-to-person automation.

Q: Do I get paid while on strike in New Zealand?

A: Not necessarily, because employers do not have to pay employees if they suspend the employees while they are on strike, although the suspension does not break your term of service.

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