Interislander sailings will be affected if strike action goes ahead, leaving Bluebridge to service the Cook Strait. Photo / 123RF
Interislander sailings will be affected if strike action goes ahead, leaving Bluebridge to service the Cook Strait. Photo / 123RF
Wellingtonians heading south on the Interislander ferry for their summer holidays will find their bookings cancelled due to industrial action if a planned strike goes ahead.
KiwiRail workers have voted for a nationwide strike affecting all rail operations, including rail ferries, as well as the Auckland and Wellington Metro systems.
The industrial action will take place over December 16-17.
Interislander general manager Walter Rushbrook said options were still being worked through to reach a settlement without strike action.
"However, should the strike go ahead, the Interislander service would be affected.
"We would reschedule passengers and freight in the same way as we do when services are cancelled due to bad weather."
A recent nationwide postal ballot of KiwiRail workers saw an overwhelming majority vote for strike action to pursue a general wage increase of 8 per cent, after a zero increase in 2020.
Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Wayne Butson said this would be the first full national stoppage of the rail system in New Zealand since 1994.
Rail workers are essential workers who played their part in keeping New Zealand rolling through the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Butson said.
Marlborough mayor John Leggett said if the strike went ahead, it would disrupt Christmas holiday plans at a time when people wanted certainty.
"The Covid situation throughout New Zealand is a worry for people. Disruption of travel plans just prior to Christmas, if the strike goes ahead, is going to be very difficult for people."
Strike action will affect those who commute by train in Wellington and Auckland. Photo / Mark Mitchell
But Leggett said there were still good flights out of Blenheim to Wellington and Auckland, as well as the Bluebridge ferry to service the Cook Strait.
Meanwhile, those slogging it out at work in Wellington in the lead-up to Christmas might be forced to work from home.
Greater Wellington Regional Council is meeting today to plan its response to the strike action.
Council chairman Daran Ponter said a strike would bring the region's commuter rail network to an absolute halt.
"We are concerned. The bottom line is if it happens during a weekday, we simply do not have enough buses in the Wellington region to carry the number of passengers as we have on rail.
"As we have done during Covid and other natural events in recent times, we will be asking the greater Wellington public to work from home where that is a possibility."
A spokesperson said NZ Post was working through what the strike would mean for its services and any updates to delivery timeframes could be found on its website.
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said any strike action should be considered in the context of an international supply chain challenge.
"There are fewer ships calling, the cost of freight ballooning, workforce and labour shortages- this is just another challenge we will have to work around for a period."
The strike will be familiar to those who remember the Cook Strait ferry strikes of the 1970s and 1980s. Disputes seemed to coincide with school holidays and other peak periods.
During several long ferry disputes between 1971 and 1983, the government launched "Operation Pluto".
State domestic airline and air force planes were used to fly passengers and cars between Wellington and Blenheim during prolonged industrial disputes.
