In the Handle room of the Crown Lynn factory, Auckland, 1976, Kiri and her sister Hine work alongside their Aunty Whero in the Handler's Room. Whero got them their jobs, on the condition they hide their whānau relationship from their boss John who has a rule against putting Māori who are close relatives on the same production line. Their Tongan workmate and friend Salote keeps their secret well. As we get to know these women, we realise they are not just handlers at work, they are handlers at home too. Each of them is handling the challenge of being brown, and a woman, in a country that is colonised. When Hine and Kiri's father dies the whānau must attend the tangi. They comprise the majority of the Handle Division, so their absence effectively brings the production line to a halt. Returning to work, after the tangi, their jobs are now on the line. This is a fictionalised account of Māori women's experiences working in factories like Crown Lynn, and Government Departments like The New Zealand Post Office, in the 1970s.