Port says strike strengthens resolve

Ports of Auckland has slammed the decision by its waterfront workers to strike for a sixth time at the end of the month as "highly irresponsible" and says it strengthens its resolve to sack them.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand filed a 24-hour strike notice starting at 7am on January 31.

Port chief executive Tony Gibson said the strike "will do nothing to end the dispute other than to strengthen our resolve to sort this out once and for all".

The port would use non-union staff to maintain port operations, and would go ahead with consultation over plans to contract out the labour and make the 320 union workers redundant, Gibson said.The latest action comes after the Council of Trade Unions said it was seriously concerned about the wharfies' dispute, where over 300 workers face losing their jobs.

Wellington-based CTU president Helen Kelly is in Auckland this week to support the Maritime Union of New Zealand after a six-hour mediation session with port management last week failed to resolve anything.

"It has become our top priority. That is how seriously we are taking it," said Kelly.

Gibson said the port's primary focus was on improving labour productivity through better labour utilisation. He said he had spent over 100 hours in mediation with the union and that it was time to move forward.

Kelly, who attended the mediation, said port management acted in an unprincipled way.

"We thought we were going to seek a collective settlement and offered solutions around labour utilisation, but fundamentally, they said they didn't want a relationship with the union."

This sort of attitude from the port couldn't be dealt with under the collective agreement, she said.

The main tool at the CTU's disposal for fighting this dispute was pressure from Aucklanders, who were concerned about what their local employer was doing and about their assets, she said.

There was also an agenda at work of privatising the port, which would result in the council owning assets and land, and private companies taking the profit from stevedoring, she said.

The International Transport Workers Federation – a global federation of 751 transport unions representing over 4.6 million workers – was very aware of the dispute and had offered its support.

Maritime Union president Garry Parsloe said yesterday that port workers would leave for destinations such as Australia if their jobs were contracted out, and the port's investment in training its workforce would be wasted.

Port spokeswoman Catherine Etheredge said the proposal that the union put forward in mediation wasn't taken seriously because it related to the existing collective agreement that expired in September.

The port withdrew its offer around this agreement after the loss of a major Maersk shipping contract meant it needed more substantive labour policies to be competitive.

PORTS OF AUCKLAND

Considers the collective agreement, which expired in September, null and void following the loss of a major shipping contract from Maersk

Says on average wharfies earn $91,000 including overtime and benefits

Has offered a 10 per cent pay rise and performance bonuses of up to 20 per cent on hourly rates in exchange for the "new flexible roster system" that would have staff on call

Rejected the union's latest offer saying it was based on the existing expired collective

Says the union must match the benefits of a contracting out model for it to be considered

Is going ahead with plans to make 320 union workers redundant and replace them with contractors

Has sent out a request for proposals to stevedores, and is looking for three outside contractors

- © Fairfax NZ News