A meeting of around 150 Auckland maritime workers held today had a simple message for Ports of Auckland management about plans to outsource labour to outside contractors: “not this century.”
Maritime Union of New Zealand Auckland Local 13 Garry Parsloe says the high turnout at the stopwork meeting reflected the major concerns of workers about contracting out in the port.
Workers were not prepared to see casualization and contracting out used to undermine wages and conditions, he says.
Mr Parsloe says workers felt management had pre-planned the contracting out approach prior to the signing of the Collective Employment Agreement (CEA) in 2009, and their recent comments indicated would hide behind legalities to force the issue.
“Obviously there would have been no agreement if there had been any indication the company were going to go down this path.”
He says any future negotiations will be extremely difficult for the company if they pursued a contracting out strategy.
“Ports of Auckland management seem to have the unhappy knack of finally getting a workable document, finally starting to rebuild a workable relationship, and then kicking the whole thing over and stirring up problems for themselves and the workforce.”
Mr Parsloe says that the current CEA between the Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union of New Zealand is a flexible document that allows the company to meet the “Peaks and Troughs” of shipping.
He says the reason why the port is not operating at full capacity is because the Company not made proper use of three shift a week guaranteed stevedores, known as Axis Ancillary Employees in the CEA.
“The shortfall in trained stevedores is creating large delays in cargo exchanges and it is now a common sight to see trucks backed up waiting for boxes in the port.”
“Outsourcing has little to do with efficiency and everything to do with casualizing the workforce.”
Mr Parsloe says the financial return to Auckland ratepayers from the Ports of Auckland had been substantial over the past five years, due to the efforts of the workforce at the Ports of Auckland.
He says that “parochial and destructive” competition between ports had resulted in shipping companies being charged unrealistically low rates, and management were now trying to “bleed workers” to make up the shortfall.
“Maritime workers are not going to have their wages and conditions attacked to prop up the profits of global shipping companies.”

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has poured scorn on a bill introduced to Parliament by ACT MP Roger Douglas to reintroduce youth rates.

The Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill was drawn from the Members’ bills ballot yesterday, and the Union is urging the Government to distance itself from it.

Maritime Union National President Phil Adams says the best thing to do would be for Roger Douglas to retire now before causing more harm.

“If he is so worried about younger workers, he could move aside and that would open up a job opportunity for a young worker with relevant ideas who is living in the real world.”

He says that Roger Douglas is pulling down an MPs salary, a parliamentary pension and national super, but he wants young people starting out in life to be trapped in low wages while accommodation, food and education costs skyrocketed.

Mr Adams says unemployment is a result of free market economic policies, and when New Zealand had a highly regulated economy and unionized workforce during the 1950s and 1960s it had high rates of economic growth and extremely low unemployment.

“Ever since we have gone down the Roger Douglas path, things have got worse for workers. Unemployment soared under his policies in the 1980s, it got worse when his ideas were carried on in the 1990s and now we have unemployment peaking again under the National Government once again.”

He says that training costs should be carried by employers, as they profited out of employing skilled workers so they should pay for their training.

Mr Adams says over the last generation, the share of income going to workers has decreased and the share of income going to owner’s profits has increased.

“The answer to boost employment and wages is simple. Lift the minimum wage, keep youth rates, get workers into unions, and make sure workers are getting their share of the wealth they produce.”

Youth rates were abolished in 2007.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says outsourcing at Ports of Auckland cannot replace a skilled in-house workforce.
Maritime Union Auckland Branch Local 13 President Garry Parsloe says any moves to contract out work by port management would meet strong resistance.
Ports of Auckland Managing Director Jens Madsen has claimed in media interviews that outsourcing parts of Ports of Auckland’s workforce was being driven by the need to handle peak demand.
But Mr Parsloe says the workforce currently employed by the Port Company are one of the most flexible workforces in New Zealand.
“Maritime Union members at Ports of Auckland work 24/7 in all weather. They undertake highly skilled duties operating heavy equipment in a challenging environment.”
He says the focus of management should be on maintaining its current workforce at a level where it can service its customers.
Mr Parsloe says Mr Madsen’s claims that outsourcing was common practice overseas neglected to take into account that it was also a common source of major industrial conflict between management and workers.
Maritime workers around the world were fighting outsourcing and job insecurity tooth and nail.
“We have no doubt outsourcing will be used to reduce the terms and conditions that our members receive under the terms and conditions of the Collective Employment Agreement recently negotiated in good faith with the Company.”
He says workers feel that they have been deceived by the Port Company management following major redundancies in 2009.
Mr Parsloe says managers were warned at the time that they would be left understaffed.
He says the current agreement contains the flexibility to meet the ‘peaks and troughs’ of shipping.
“The outsourcing concept from the Ports of Auckland management is about trying to cover a lack of skilled, permanent staff. If it is such a good idea, why not outsource the managers?”
Mr Parsloe says during the global economic downturn, the hard work of maritime workers saw an increased profit of $4.6 million for the Ports of Auckland.
The profit from the Port Company is returned to the people of Auckland through the Auckland Regional Council and has contributed over $200 million in the past five years.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says any rises in GST would hurt workers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says a proposed rise of GST to 15% suggested this afternoon by the Prime Minister would be bad for the majority of New Zealanders.

He says that GST hits ordinary workers hard, and any increase would be used to subsidize income tax cuts for the wealthy.

“Any rise in GST will create more inequality, a bigger gap in wealth and will hurt the growing number of working poor in New Zealand trapped in low income and casual jobs.”

Mr Fleetwood says there seems to be little of substance in the Prime Minister’s economic statement about the serious increase in the number of unemployed people, especially young people.

ENDS

For more information, contact Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood on 021364649

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is supporting the Corrections Association in their protest today against prison privatization at the opening of Parliament.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the safety and security of workers comes before cost cutting measures, and the Government has lost the plot in its prisons policies.

The Union has spoken out against the use of shipping containers as makeshift jail cells.

Mr Fleetwood says that the Maritime Union is incensed that the only “maritime policy” the Government seems to have is using containers for jails.

“With tens of thousands of young New Zealanders joining the ranks of the unemployed, this Government is doing nothing to support New Zealand shipping and getting young people good careers in coastal shipping moving New Zealand goods in containers.”

“Instead young people from deprived backgrounds will languish on the dole and slip into anti-social activities – and end up inside shipping containers. The National Government should be ashamed of itself.”

Mr Fleetwood says areas such as prisons should never been privatized and used as profit making machines.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has congratulated the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in its successful and ongoing campaign in improving wages and conditions in the offshore industry.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says offshore maritime workers are working in a tough and unforgiving environment and all workers benefit from strong unions like the MUA leading the way forward.

He says the recent media attack from the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE) on the MUA’s offshore strategy has blown the credibility of the AIMPE.

The AIMPE is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation, and the Maritime Union of New Zealand will be seeking an explanation of their leadership’s public statements attacking a fellow maritime union for doing their job.

The AIMPE leadership need to figure out whether they are representing workers or representing employers, says Mr Fleetwood.

Mr Fleetwood sayd the ongoing attacks on the MUA in the big business owned Australian media are to be expected and need to be countered by getting the real story out through working class communities.

“Any group of workers that is successfully organized and achieving good results are regarded as a threat to the vast profits corporate owners and managers are grabbing. So all the flak the MUA are getting is a sign you are making good progress.”

The Maritime Union has attacked comments by the group Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction (STIMBR) which downplays valid concerns about the use of the poison gas.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood has condemned a statement from STIMBR (1 February 2010) entitled “Gas links with disease unfounded” that asserts there is no proof that methyl bromide is connected with motor neuron disease.

Mr Fleetwood says there is no proof as yet, but important new research into the health hazards of methyl bromide has detected possible links and there has been criticism of past investigations.

“On the one hand STIMBR is claiming no one knows what causes motor neuron disease, yet the very reason that further research is being done is due to possible links. As responsible employers they should be encouraging any new findings that build on current limited knowledge. STIMBR also quote outdated research in their public statement.”

STIMBR is made up of businesses that have a direct financial interest in the use of methyl bromide, but until recently had Government representation and financial contributions.

Mr Fleetwood says he is very concerned that the Government has until recently been officially represented on what was clearly a partisan organization that appeared motivated by the interests of private businesses, and which had no representation of maritime workers.

“STIMBR is not an industry group, it’s an employers group, managers who sit in offices a safe distance from methyl bromide fumigation. It’s a public relations cookup to portray themselves as reducing methyl bromide when they are the beneficiaries of its use. What Government agencies were doing involved with STIMBR is a major concern and we will be approaching the Government on this matter.”

In the October 2009 STIMBR newsletter (http://www.stimbr.org.nz/STIMBRNewsletter8.pdf), the Chair Gordon Hosking noted that government departments had advised they would no longer be members of STIMBR but would seek observer status due to perceived conflict of interest and “will be discussed further by the management committee.”

The same newsletter lists as its first item under “Specific areas of progress” the achievement of “Protecting methyl bromide use”, which seems an odd area of progress for a group whose name is “Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction”. Are they protecting the use of Methyl Bromide or reducing the use of Methyl Bromide?

A May 2008 newsletter stated STIMBR were “pleased to acknowledge contributions to STIMBR from organisations with a keen interest in methyl bromide reduction, but who are non-users of the fumigant. Noted in our last newsletter were Biosecurity New Zealand, Ministry of Economic Development, Scion, and Crop and Food Research.”

New research is being carried out at Canterbury University where toxicology professor Ian Shaw has been reported as saying a link had been found which involved a reaction when mixing methyl bromide with a protective chemical found in human cells.

Dr Shaw has stated the study by the Nelson Medical Officer of Health should have looked further into the rate of port deaths from motor neuron disease which was many hundreds of times higher than normal.

Mr Fleetwood says that if it is proved in future research there is a link between methyl bromide and motor neuron disease, or any other illness, then the Maritime Union will be involved in any efforts to hold employers, Government and individuals (including STIMBR members) accountable and liable for any harm to workers.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says that new research on methyl bromide gas at the University of Canterbury is vital to ensuring workers and local residents are not at risk from the use of the toxic fumigant.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the early reports of a possible link between methyl bromide and nerve damage, while not surprising, should make it clear that use of methyl bromide must be immediately stopped while further research is carried out.

While researchers at Canterbury University are in the early stages of examining links, toxicology professor Ian Shaw has been reported as saying a link had been found which involved a reaction when mixing methyl bromide with a protective chemical found in human cells.

Mr Fleetwood says while the Union is very happy with the initiative of Dr Shaw and the University of Canterbury, it wants to know why the Government and its responsible agencies did not act to have methyl bromide thoroughly investigated when these concerns were raised in the past.

“If there is any suggestion that lack of safeguards by employers or state agencies has resulted in preventable harm, then the Maritime Union will be considering legal action.”

One of the biggest uses of methyl bromide is to fumigate logs in New Zealand ports and on ships, and waterfront workers and seafarers who were members of the Maritime Union often worked nearby.

Four port workers in Nelson died of degenerative motor neuron disease between 2002 and 2004 and there have been ongoing concerns that methyl bromide was a common factor, despite a report from the Nelson Medical Officer of Health that found no link.

The Maritime Union has argued for several years that methyl bromide use should be stopped, along with the Council of Trade Unions and the Green Party.

Mr Fleetwood says that the Union would like to see the research continue and did not want political pressures to disrupt scientific inquiry.

He says that if there is any doubt whatsoever that methyl bromide could be harming workers, then its use must be stopped, and the upcoming ERMA review should be extended to take account of any new findings.

ENDS

For more information, contact Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood on 021364649

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says that New Zealand’s overseas trade could be in jeopardy unless the Government has a plan for ports and the maritime sector.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood, responding to comments from the Minister of Transport Hon. Stephen Joyce, says it is not good enough for the Government to leave it to chance when 99% of New Zealand’s imports and exports are shipped.

He says that there is widespread concern in the industry that in future cargo could be hubbed through a large Australian port, with complex and negative effects for New Zealand.

“This decision would be made by global shipping lines, whose interest is their own profit, not New Zealand’s long term economic security.”

Mr Fleetwood says that an October 2009 report from Auckland Regional Holdings, the business arm of Auckland Regional Council (ARC), had noted the risk that, over time, New Zealand containers would be hubbed through Australia.

Further comments last week from retiring Pacifica Shipping CEO Rod Grout backed up the view the current hands-off approach could end with New Zealand cargo being hubbed through Sydney or Melbourne.

Mr Fleetwood says the views of the maritime industry appear to be falling on deaf ears.

He says an example of potential problems could be seen with what had happened when Fonterra had changed its transport mode in South Canterbury with no warning from the Port of Timaru to long distance rail.

This had led to severe pressure on the port, and was just one of a number of examples where ports had risked major investments in infrastructure to build capacity, only to be left in the lurch by global shipping companies.

“This situation if repeated on a larger scale through hubbing to Australia due to decisions of shipping companies could result in huge disruption to regional economies, millions of dollars of infrastructure being mothballed, and our transport chain in chaos.”

Mr Fleetwood says Mr Joyce’s claim that changes in the port sector would occur naturally over time showed the Government did not grasp the implications of recent developments.

He says the Maritime Union wants a long term national strategy to ensure any rationalization of ports is achieved through a planned and non-destructive process.

Ports should be integrated through a “KiwiPort” system and coastal shipping had to receive the same support that road and rail did to create a effective, New Zealand-controlled transport system.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says recent statements from Minister of Transport Stephen Joyce and retiring Pacifica Shipping Chief Executive Rod Grout on New Zealand ports and shipping show the need for immediate action in the maritime industry.

Mr Fleetwood says it is incorrect for the National Government to say they want market forces decide the future of the maritime industry, when massive taxpayer investment was directed at roads and rail.

He says that a “hands off” approach to the maritime industry means major market players would dominate the market and make decisions that could harm New Zealand’s transport infrastructure.

“The warning from Rod Grout that New Zealand cargo could end up being hubbed through Australian ports is a very real possibility, which would result in further loss of control of New Zealand exports and downgrading of our transport infrastructure.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Union is advocating a KiwiPort concept which would see co-ordination of ports at a national level, a level of investment by Government, and a planned approach to New Zealand’s transport needs.

He says an example of the much promoted “market forces” causing havoc are the moves by Fonterra to shift its products onto long distance rail rather than through local ports which had damaged the Port of Timaru in 2009.

“The path proposed by the current Government is to do nothing and let destructive parochial competition play out between our ports and a few self-interested big players.”

He says New Zealand has continued to be disadvantaged by its dependence on global shippers who controlled port trade.

“As a trading nation and a maritime island nation, it is irresponsible and short sighted to have no long term direction for our maritime transport industry set by the Government.”