Holcim fails on social responsibility in New Zealand

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand has con­demned glob­al cement giant Hol­cim after the com­pa­ny issued for­mal notice of ter­mi­na­tion for the entire New Zealand crew of the cement car­ri­er MV Buf­fa­lo, effec­tive on 28 Decem­ber 2025.

The Union is renew­ing its call for Asso­ciate Trans­port Min­is­ter James Mea­ger to imme­di­ate­ly reject the appli­ca­tion for a for­eign replace­ment ves­sel.

Up to 32 skilled New Zealand sea­far­ers face los­ing their jobs just before Christ­mas as Hol­cim finalis­es its plan to replace the New Zealand-flagged MV Buf­fa­lo with the Pana­man­ian-flagged NACC Vega, crewed by over­seas labour on infe­ri­or terms and con­di­tions.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says Holcim’s deci­sion is a cal­cu­lat­ed act to under­mine New Zealand’s sup­ply chain resilience.

“This is a bla­tant attempt to replace skilled Kiwi work­ers in the trans­port sec­tor.”

Holcim’s part­ners, Nova Algo­ma Cement Car­ri­ers (NACC), are seek­ing a Min­is­te­r­i­al autho­ri­sa­tion under Sec­tion 198 of the Mar­itime Trans­port Act that would allow the Pana­man­ian-flagged NACC Vega to oper­ate in New Zealand’s domes­tic coastal trade for up to three years.

“Min­is­ter Mea­ger holds the pow­er to stop these jobs being axed, and he must use it,” Mr Find­lay says.

“New Zealand sea­far­ers are will­ing and able to do this work.”

Mr Find­lay says an exemp­tion will under­mine New Zealand’s mar­itime capa­bil­i­ty by replac­ing an expe­ri­enced domes­tic crew with a tran­sient for­eign work­force.

“A deci­sion to allow this would go against recent gov­ern­ment rhetoric regard­ing employ­er accred­i­ta­tion and the require­ment to pri­or­i­tize New Zealand work­ers.”