Stevedoring company at Northport breached employment law after union rep was denied access

ISO was wrong to deny Maritime Union of New Zealand Northland rep Rex Pearce access to Northport site, the ERA has ruled. Photo / Tania Whyte

A company providing stevedoring services at Northport broke the law when it prevented a Maritime Union representative access to the site on the basis of Covid-19 regulations.

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered Australian-owned ISO Limited to pay $15,000 in penalty for breaching provisions under the Employment Relations Act (2000) in that it failed to provide access to union officials to its Whangārei workplace, including smoking and mess rooms.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) filed proceedings in the authority after ISO declined union organiser Rex Pearce access to its site at Northport in November last year for health and safety reasons.

MUNZ national secretary Craig Harrison told the ERA he was extremely surprised his union has had ongoing difficulties meeting stevedores at Northport, describing ISO as the only employer in New Zealand not allowing access to members in the usual way in smoko rooms, or discussing and agreeing on other suitable port arrangements.

But ISO general manager of health and safety Chris Bell said it was unhelpful to compare access at Northport with that at other ports, which have different facilities that were able to be utilised.

While MUNZ acknowledged genuine Covid risk at the border, it argued that risk did not arise from union officials visiting a site but from seafarers on board vessels who travelled internationally.

ISO said it was not imposing new health and safety policies on MUNZ for the purpose of preventing access but rather required compliance with existing procedures and Covid-10 operational control measures.

ERA member Nicola Craig said there was an absence of any expert medical or other opinion to justify ISO's position that a serious risk needed to be managed and limitations on access to the port was an appropriate vehicle for doing so.

"Even if the company was able to establish a procedure was in place which prevented access to the port altogether, I have serious reservations about whether that would be reasonable," she said.

At the investigation meeting, Craig said ISO had difficulty establishing what its own control measures were and described them as being under constant review and may be updated as new information or guidance came to light.

The company's representative accepted in closing submissions the evidence on what the current protocols were was unclear, she said.

Harrison said ERA has sent a strong message to employers who tried to undermine the right of workers to meet with union reps on the job.

He said the determination was crystal clear there had been an ongoing breach of the employer's obligations to allow access.

ISO did not respond to a request for comment, including whether it will appeal the ERA's determination.