By ALISON HORWOOD
The battle for the waterfront drew attention from as far away as Australia and as high as the Prime Minister yesterday.
From across the Tasman came unionists warning that the stakes were as great as in the waterfront dispute of 1951. From Helen Clark came a word of advice: mediate.
But mediation was not on the agenda at the Port of Nelson last night as months of ill feeling flared again with 50 riot police, wharfies and their international supporters clashing.
Police formed a human barricade to escort a vanload of out-of-town workers past the picket line and to a waiting Carter Holt Harvey ship, the Eastern Forest, to begin loading logs.
Despite an appeal for calm by the national president of the Waterfront Workers Union, Les Wells, the 100-plus protesters stood their ground as the van and police moved towards them.
An environmentalist strummed his guitar and sang as police linked arms, chanted and jogged in unison to advance the van with darkened windows through the crowd.
Most of the picketers stepped aside as the police drew near, but those who did not were hit with batons. Two picketers who broke through the police line were struck and taken away and a third was arrested for using offensive language.
Later, the crowd moved away fairly quietly but vowed to return today at 6 am when the 12-hour shift change occurred and fresh staff were brought in.
At the heart of the long-running dispute is the decision by Carter Holt Harvey to give log-loading work to casual out-of-towners from the Bay of Plenty-based Mainland Stevedoring.
It says it is using the cheapest company to do the job, but the union says it is an attempt to casualise the waterfront and deprive permanent workers of jobs.
Pete Slotemaker, a permanent part-time staff member with Nelson-based Stevedorian Services, said giving the work to out-of-towners drained money from the local economy.
He said Carter Holt Harvey contracts made up 20 per cent of the annual work for Stevedorian Services. It employs 15 fulltimers, 15 permanent part-timers and about 30 other workers.
"This is not just a waterfront issue. If casualisation gets a strong-hold, it could go into any job as well."
The secretary of the Waterfront Workers Union, Warwick Bruce, said Carter Holt Harvey took the contract away from the local wharfies without negotiation.
As a result, it had removed money from the local economy and "food from the mouths of the workers and their families."
But Greg Dickson, director of Mainland Stevedoring, said the company had hired three permanent and 11 casual staff in the South Island for the loading of the Eastern Forest.
Twelve more had indicated they would like to join "once the level of intimidation is reduced."
He said Mainland was being forced to continue to bring workers from the North Island until a full South Island workforce could be recruited.
Mainland Stevedoring has offices in Bluff and Timaru and is opening an office in Nelson.
"Attempts by the Waterfront Workers Union and its supporters to stop Mainland from employing local people will not succeed," Mr Dickson said.
Among the wharfies' supporters at the protest yesterday were Green MPs Sue Bradford and Keith Locke and six Australian unionists, including Jim Tannock, assistant national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.
Mr Tannock said the issue at the centre of the South Island pickets was exactly the same as during the 1951 waterfront lockout.
As the 50-year anniversary of the start of the lockout approaches on June 15, wharfies were still fighting against the casualisation of the industry, he said.
Helen Clark yesterday sent a strong hint to Carter Holt Harvey that she wanted the dispute resolved quickly and quietly.
"What we would like Carter Holt to do is to be part of the solution. I don't think we should underestimate how much sympathy there is around the provincial port city towns for jobs going to local people when a ship comes to town to load and unload," she said.
Helen Clark said Labour Minister Margaret Wilson had spoken to Carter Holt Harvey and the union yesterday and had offered the use of mediation services.
But while indicating her desire for a speedy solution, Helen Clark also made it clear the Government had no plans to step in.
She wanted the parties to use processes set down in employment legislation to find a resolution.
National has criticised the Government's unwillingness to get involved, saying the dispute is seriously damaging the country's economy and international reputation.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
Weather: Auckland has coldest morning of 2024 so far, cool temperatures to remain into next week
MetService said Akl's Saturday temp coolest the city had been since October last year.