Pressure on union, port to settle row

Port workers and their supporters stage a picket yesterday to press their case for a new collective contract. Photo / Dean Purcell

Pressure will be on this afternoon to settle a dispute which has caused a four-day shutdown of Auckland's container wharves and threatens more disruption from Thursday night.

Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union are due to meet again from noon before a member of the Government's Mediation Service after the return to work last night of 327 workers who have held two 24-hour strikes and been locked out for two days in between.

The dispute has disrupted six ships so far, at a direct cost to the Auckland Council-owned port company of $1.2 million, not counting losses to exporters and importers waiting for goods needed to keep shop shelves stocked for Christmas.

Failing progress this week towards a new collective employment agreement, the port faces a 48-hour strike from Thursday night, to be followed by a company lockout of the workers of equal duration until late next Monday.

The port company expects those stoppages to be even more disruptive, affecting about 5500 containers at a cost to it of $1.5 million in lost revenue, which will ultimately be borne by the council and its ratepayers.

It was preparing last night to receive two ships at the port, and to discharge their cargoes and reload them as quickly as possible to make way for other vessels due to arrive before the next threatened stoppages.

More than 100 workers and supporters including Professional Firefighters' Union members marched yesterday morning from the waterfront to a closed meeting in Anzac Ave where they were said to have reaffirmed their actions in support of a new agreement.

Maritime Union president Garry Parsloe said that whether they went on strike again hinged on today's talks, although he feared the port company was dug in over a refusal to reinstate jobs which it contracted out while a previous agreement remained in force.

Although only four jobs were affected, he said it had undermined his members' trust in the company, which they also feared planned to encourage more workers to take individual deals based on their hard-won conditions.

Company chief executive Tony Gibson has denied that, saying he is legally bound to give individual agreements to workers who ask, but would prefer to reach a new collective deal covering the bulk of his staff.

What they want

What the company says it is offering:

* A "roll-over" of its workers' previous collective employment agreement on their existing terms and conditions.
* A 2.5 per cent pay rise.
* A $200 one-off payment in lieu of backpay.

What the union says it wants:

* A reinstatement of four "shuttle-driving" jobs contracted out to a firm which is 90 per cent owned by Ports of Auckland.
* A commitment by the port company not to offer a higher hourly wage to non-unionists with extra money allegedly "cashed up" from union-negotiated conditions such as superannuation.