Essity, a local manufacturer of toilet paper, is threatening its workers with $550,000 in damages after locking them out of the mill for the last three weeks. Photo / NZME

Purex manufacturer Essity has launched legal action against its own employees, threatening them with more than half a million dollars in damages.

Some 145 members of the Pulp and Paper Workers Union have been locked out of Essity's Kawerau mill where they work for the last three weeks to prevent them from being paid.

Essity's legal threats are being made due to technicalities over a strike notice issued in July to push for a pay increase to match the rising cost of living.

The Pulp and Paper Workers' Union are now claiming that Essity is seeking to make 67 individual employees "jointly and severally liable" with the union for $542,852 of damages plus costs.

Union secretary Tane Phillips said the threat has had a devastating impact on members and their whanau.

"This is an absolute punch in the guts for a group of workers who have already been locked out of their jobs without pay. I've had members call me saying they feel sick to their stomach, they feel like the company is going after their families."

"We are not going to be intimidated by expensive lawyers or bully-boy threats. All we are asking for is for our pay to keep up with inflation. Essity is a large and very profitable company that can easily afford it."

Union member Bill George said the legal threats are "a real a kick in the teeth".

"I'm the only breadwinner and I have a wife as well as two grandkids with disabilities to provide for. We're already hurting from the lockout, and now the company wants to sue us for thousands. I just ask where their humanity is."

Essity is a Swedish-based multinational company that made $1.8 billion of profit globally last year. Its brands in New Zealand include Purex, Sorbent, Libra and Handee.