Bread shortage hits North Island supermarkets
It's a sandwich lover's worst nightmare. North Island supermarkets are bracing for a bread shortage as loaf makers walk off the job over pay and conditions. A reader was forced to resort to buns for her kids' lunchboxes today after finding Hobsonville Countdown supermarket shelves all but bare of loaves of bread on Tuesday night.
"Bread aisle at Countdown tonight ... #breadshortage?" Signs have gone up in other West Auckland supermarkets warning customers of a national bread shortage. "Due to Tip Top going on strike there is limited bread available. We hope to have a full range soon," the signs read. Countdown spokeswoman Charlotte Mee confirmed "supply issues" were affecting their stock. "Bread is always incredibly popular at any time of the day but unfortunately at the moment we're experiencing a few supply issues in the Upper North Island for some brands of sliced bread.
"There are plenty of buns, loaves and other bread products from our bakery and they're almost always available for customers as we bake throughout the day based on demand in each store." The shortage is linked to industrial action by more than 100 FIRST Union members at George Weston Foods' Tip Top bakeries in Otahuhu and Wiri.
The strike action meant much of the North island faced potential bread shortages. "Tip Top bakery workers are fighting to put bread on their own tables after years of negligible pay rises and no recognition of the family time they have to sacrifice to enable the company's 24/7 operation," union spokeswoman Anita Rosentreter told.
George Weston Foods general manager of baking Mark Bosomworth said the strike action meant the company was only likely to produce half its usual bread production on Tuesday and Wednesday, affecting North Island supply. Many customers would notice a slim pickings on supermarket shelves but Wellington and South Island supplies were unlikely to be affected. The company was disappointed with the union's action. Many of the claims had been settled. "We pay competitive rates, we provide good training and we provide a safe, modern work environment for our staff," he told.
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Poll: Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?
As reported in the Post, there’s a $30 million funding gap in financial mentoring. This has led to services closing and mentors stepping in unpaid just to keep helping people in need 🪙💰🪙
One proposed solution? Small levies on industries that profit from financial hardship — like banks, casinos, and similar companies.
So we want to hear what you think:
Should the government ask these industries to contribute?
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60% Yes, supporting people is important!
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25.7% No, individuals should take responsibility
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14.3% ... It is complicated
Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
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