STRIKE-BOUND Ports of Auckland (PoA) remains determined to lock out the 300 unionised dockers it thought it had fired, but faced with a court ruling that the men had not been legally terminated, the municipal port authority will now pay them until the scheduled April 6 lockout begins.

The Employment Court judge also ordered the PoA not to "encourage or entice" redundant dockers to seek employment with outside contractors, who have already hired more than 50 men to replace the "sacked" union workers.

PoA lawyers announced in the Employment Court that all dockers, who would have worked "guaranteed shifts" under the old contract, would be paid until the lockout of unionised workers begins.

PoA and Maritime Union of New Zealand return to court on Friday to determine the legality of the lockout.

Cracks have appeared in importers' supply chains with one major store announcing shortages. The Warehouse placed ads in local papers, apologising for running out of Lego Friends toys, but the shortage was attributed to "exceptional" sales of the item, and in most cases importers were meeting demand.

Yet the Importers Institute said more shortages would be inevitable if the disruption continued. The New Zealand Retailers Association said most of its members were unaffected by the strike, but distribution centres were running low.