The impact of Crown Lynn's closure on Pacific workers. 

The 1980s were a difficult time for many New Zealand-owned companies, and Crown Lynn Potteries was no exception. New Zealand’s economy was becoming increasingly global, and changes in import legislation meant that the market was being flooded with inexpensive imported goods [1]. Consequently, local manufactures struggled - they were attempting to compete by lowering their own prices, while still paying their staff appropriate wages. Eventually, many of these companies closed, with Crown Lynn finally closing its doors in May of 1989. 

Crown Lynn’s advance towards closure elicited a variety of responses from their staff body. Jo Crawford worked in the packing department from the early 1970s, and later that decade became Crown Lynn’s union delegate for the Labourers Union. She was involved with a number of negotiations throughout the 1980s - notably Crown Lynn’s first major layoff of half the factory staff in 1980. Crawford was later involved in negotiations with general and senior management regarding appropriate payment policies, and later redundancy agreements when it became clear that the factory was going to close [2]. It was these complicated negotiations that resulted in a number of strikes in the latter half of the 1980s – these images depict a 1989 strike where concerns around a proposed removal of overtime rates are shared. This was one of multiple strikes just prior to the company’s closure.  

The impact of Crown Lynn’s closure was most intimately experienced by those who had worked for the company, but echoes of this loss were felt throughout their communities - both local and global. Crown Lynn, like many manufacturers of this period, employed a great number of Pacific peoples within their factories - in 1981, over half of Crown Lynn’s 363 factory staff were Pasifika [3]. Many of these people had come to Aotearoa for employment within the manufacturing industry, and thus, when this industry began to shrink, Pasifika communities were faced with rising unemployment. According to statistics from the Ministry for Social Development, the rate of unemployment for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa rose from 6.6% in 1986 to 28% in 1991 [4]. This substantial rise is mirrored in migration statistics from 1991-1993, when more Tongan and Samoan people left New Zealand than arrived here [5].  

In Jo Crawford’s reflection on this time, she recounts how the Labourers Union was acutely aware of the particular impact that Crown Lynn’s closure may have on workers who had come directly from the Islands. She describes the language barrier, and how this made things like applying for social welfare so much more difficult. Through her role as union delegate, Jo got to know many of these families and knew the issues they might face getting work - overcoming practical obstacles like language, while also navigating a society which no longer offered the promise of work which had brought them here.  

The 1980s in Aotearoa was a period of great change, with increasing globalisation resulting in a society which could no longer offer its people the security of the previous decade. Crown Lynn’s closure signalled a major loss, both within the lives of many West Auckland families, and for Aotearoa more generally. The skills, techniques, communities, and relationships, which had been fostered by Crown Lynn Potteries for decades were no longer exercised, and thus faded into the past. Consequently, it is our job at Te Toi Uku to ensure that these histories are kept alive - both celebrating the iconic highs and acknowledging the painful lows of one of Aotearoa’s most iconic companies.  

[1] “The 1980s - Overview”, New Zealand History – Ministry for Culture and Heritage, June 19, 2024, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1980s/overview 

[2] Jo Crawford, “Interview with Jo Crawford”, interview by Valerie Ringer Monk, October 28, 2005, https://natlib.govt.nz/records/35854604?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Labour+disputes&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject_authority_id%5D=-23775&search%5Bpath%5D=items  

[3] J. A. Longley, “Interhouse Correspondence, Ethnic Breakdown of Factory Staff”, Crown Lynn Ceramics (N.Z.) Limited, February 13, 1981. Portage Ceramics Trust Collection.  

[4] The Social Report, Te Pūrongo Oranga Tangata (2007, Ministry of Social Development). https://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/2007/paid-work/unemployment.html#:~:text=Between%201986%20and%201991%2C%20the,than%20the%20rate%20in%201986 

[5] Jon Fraenkel, “Pacific Islands and New Zealand – Immigration and Aid”, Te Ara – Encylopedia of New Zealand, June 20, 2012, https://teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-islands-and-new-zealand/page-2