The Maritime Union of New Zealand says an agreement it has reached with Port Otago Limited is a “win win” situation that will prevent job losses.

Maritime Union National President Phil Adams says a meeting of 150 cargo handlers held yesterday at Port Chalmers voted in favour of a proposal hammered out by the Unions and the Company.

Members of the Maritime Union of New Zealand and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union attended the meeting.

Mr Adams says the proposal will see no compulsory redundancies amongst the workforce.

“We believe the workforce will respond to the Company’s efforts by continuing to ensure a high level of productivity.”

He says some outstanding issues around the work force structure were also addressed by the Unions.

“This is a mutually acceptable solution for Port Otago and its workforce and we are very happy that after some time a negotiated solution has been put in place.”

A number of voluntary redundancies are occurring at Port Otago.

Mr Adams says he believes that the agreement was a positive step forward for Port Otago, and would lead to a stronger future for this major New Zealand port.

“It is a difficult economic period, but the Port has weathered difficult times before and we are confident we will this time as well.”

Port Otago Limited is owned by the people of Otago through the Otago Regional Council.

ENDS

For more information, contact Maritime Union National President Phil Adams on 0274 377601

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Four Seafarers Scholarships are available from the New Zealand Seafarers Union Scholarship Trust, for current or former seafarer members, and children or grandchildren of New Zealand seafarers, for study in 2010 at University or technical institutes.

Details and application information for the scholarships is available here. Applications close in early December.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand has elected two new national officials in their three-yearly union elections.

The new General Secretary of the Union is Joe Fleetwood of Wellington.

A new Assistant General Secretary of the Union has also been elected, Ray Fife, of Bluff.

The National President of the Maritime Union, Phil Adams of Port Chalmers, was re-elected unopposed.

The National Vice President of the Maritime Union, Garry Parsloe of Auckland, was also re-elected unopposed.

The elections took place in a postal ballot of all financial members of the Union which closed last Friday.

The new General Secretary of the Union, Joe Fleetwood, thanked members for their support and thanked all members who took part in the democratic process of the elections.

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The Ports of Auckland has been put on notice from Unions that it will have to train its own workforce rather than fly in staff from other ports.

The port company wants to transfer skilled labour from Wellington and Lyttelton to keep up with work after 12 weeks ago laying off a substantial number of workers.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Vice President Garry Parsloe says the situation is a result of the port company ignoring Union advice.

“They were told there were too many redundancies, and it would create a shortage of skilled workers. Now this has happened.”

He says that the Maritime Union would only agree for Unionised workers being transferred into Auckland if there was a written commitment from the Ports of Auckland to train a sufficient number of its own workforce.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Wayne Butson confirmed his Union had a united stance with MUNZ on the issue.

There were concerns that the Port Company was attempting to play off the unions against each other.

He says the issue is about port employers maintaining skilled staff at their port, an issue that both unions have the same position on.

“Any prudent port employer knows they must provide for volume variability of tonnage. Having an adequate supply of suitably qualified staff so that these situations don’t arise is Management 101.”

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Maritime workers from around the world have gathered in Wellington this week as the Maritime Union of New Zealand holds its third triennial conference.

The three day conference sets the agenda for the next three years of the Union and runs through to Thursday 29 October.

The conference was opened this morning by Leader of the Opposition Phil Goff.

Delegates and observers from throughout New Zealand and from USA, UK, Japan and Australia are attending the conference.

International speakers addressing the Conference include Maritime Union of Australia National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, All Japan Dockworkers Union ZenKowan Deputy General Secretary Shosaku Machida, International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (North America) Vice President Ray Familathe, and RMT National Secretary Seafarers Division Steve Todd (United Kingdom).

The Conference will also be the last for long serving Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson who retires next month after 37 years of active membership and leadership within the Maritime Union and the former Waterfront Workers Union.

Elections for the Maritime Union’s four national officers are currently being held by postal ballot.

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Union members at Port Chalmers are vowing to resist redundancy threats. 35 jobs have been put at risk after management announcements, despite Port Otago’s ongoing profitability.

A full report is online here at the Otago Daily Times.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand has thanked Green MP Sue Bradford, who announced her resignation from Parliament today, for her support for workers and those without a voice in the political process.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says Sue Bradford was a friend of the Maritime Union and all workers.

“Sue was a principle driven politician during her time in Parliament who was ahead of her time and who provided a contrast to many other faceless representatives.”

Mr Hanson says that Ms Bradford was one of the few MPs in Parliament who understood the crossover between social, economic and environmental policies.

He says she was a strong advocate for coastal shipping as an environmentally friendly transport mode.

Mr Hanson says Sue Bradford was also a friend of New Zealand workers and her resignation was a loss to Parliament.

“Her activist background gave her a real understanding of the struggle of unemployed and low paid workers since the 1980s.”

He says he expects Ms Bradford to continue to be an active and effective political advocate outside Parliament.

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The Maritime Union is backing Green Party calls for the Government to reconsider its push to put oversized trucks on New Zealand roads.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the Government is obviously not concerned at the extra deaths and injuries that will occur as a result on New Zealand roads.

“Has the Government considered the personal losses and increased costs in medical care and ACC payments resulting from accidents? Has it weighed the environmental costs and calculated the extra emissions that juggernaut trucks will produce?”

Mr Hanson says local ratepayers will be paying the bill to realign bridges, repair roads, and be responsible for all the future damage caused by the introduction of bigger trucks.

“Large trucking companies seem to be pulling the Government’s strings and their profits are being subsidized by the taxpayer and the ratepayer.”

He says the Government has abdicated its responsibility by completely abandoning any attempt to develop an integrated, long term transport solution for New Zealand that recognizes the economic, social and environmental importance of coastal shipping and thriving regional ports.

“Coastal shipping requires no infrastructure upkeep – by sailing on the ‘blue highway’ it does away with the need for the vast expense of fixing roads for oversize trucks.”

The Government has directed enormous resources towards roading but has slashed the already tiny budget for support of environmentally friendly coastal shipping.

Under the current direction, it is estimated bigger trucks will make at least 620,000 trips on our roads each year.

Mr Hanson says coastal ships can carry 1000 containers, keep extra traffic off roads, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions, are noise free and require no infrastructure maintenance as they sail on the ‘blue highway’.

“The Government has reverted to a backward looking, short term approach which will have major negative consequences for New Zealand. New Zealanders must start to get active to defend their future before we are locked into the roadhog’s charter.”

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Over 100 local people attended a Timaru public meeting on the future of the port of Timaru on Thursday 17 September.

The meeting was called by the Maritime Union of New Zealand following a decision last month by Fonterra to stop exports from the port of Timaru, which has resulted in a massive loss of work for the port.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the meeting was a success.

He says there is a recognition that the port is a vital part of the local economy and cannot be allowed to fade away.

Speakers included representatives of the Maritime Union and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, both of which represent port workers.

Other speakers included Labour Party transport spokesperson Darren Hughes MP.

Timaru District Mayor Janie Annear attended the meeting along with several local councillors. The Mayor contributed to the meeting as did Timaru Port Company CEO Jeremy Boys.

Audience members included workers, farmers and local businesspeople.

He says there was a unanimous support from the meeting for a motion from the local branch of the Maritime Union that pressed for the need to preserve local jobs and regional economic development and requested a meeting be set up between local representatives with the Minister of Transport and Fonterra.

A steering committee has been established with representatives from unions, business and local government to carry out these tasks.

Mr Hanson says one of the themes that came out of the meeting was concern about Fonterra’s actions and a sense that the Timaru district deserved a better deal for its considerable contribution to New Zealand’s exports.

He says that there is considerable goodwill in the community who understand the importance of the future of the port to Timaru.

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Today’s Timaru Herald features the Timaru public meeting this Thursday 17 September as their lead story.

Read the full story here.

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