Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union says a new employment Bill before Parliament is good news for casual workers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says that many New Zealand workers are struggling with the insecurity of casual work.

The Maritime Union welcomed the Bill which featured increased powers for Labour Inspectors to determine whether workers were fixed-term or permanent employees, and tests to determine whether a worker has progressed from casual to permanent employment.

Mr Hanson says the Bill will also address issues where workers carrying out work for a controlling third party can add that party to a personal grievance, and specifies such workers must be employed on terms and conditions no less favourable than any collective agreement which covers direct employees.

He says this means that employers will not be able to avoid their obligations by contracting out work simply to undermine wages and conditions.

“We see this as a step forward in ensuring all workers are treated fairly and is part of the solution in stopping the creation of an underclass of casualized, short-term workers.”

The Maritme Union acknowledges the work put into the casualization issue by Ruth Dyson MP and Peter Brown MP.

Mr Hanson says the problems with casual work are widespread in the maritime industry as well as many other industries.

“Casualization is a major social problem. If a worker is employed on a day to day basis, with no security of income, they are unable to plan their lives or obtain mortgages or loans. This can have major impacts on family life, health and community activities.”

Mr Hanson says he would expect any political party that wanted to support New Zealand families would be backing the new Bill.

“We hear a lot from politicians about the need to help Kiwi families, and this is one very practical way that we can ensure hard working New Zealanders have some stability and security in their lives to help bring up their families.”

The Maritime Union has welcomed a Government announcement that it intends to improve protections for casual workers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the Union has been arguing since 1991 that the practice of employing casual labour on the waterfront is degrading and unfair.

“It is similar to the situation of a century ago when workers lined up for work at the port gate, and many were victimized or refused work.”

Mr Hanson says peaks and troughs of work in the maritime industry have not always required supplementary labour to the permanent workforce, but with the disestablishment of the Waterfront Industry Commission in 1989 the permanent workforce had become increasingly casualized.

He says the situation has lead to casual workers on the books of up to four employers in their port, in some cases surviving for many years “on the end of a phone, waiting for a call.”

“We have cases in New Zealand of waterfront workers who have been employed in a port for up to fifteen years as casuals, waiting in vain for an opportunity to get a permanent job with the security that gives.”

Mr Hanson says these casual workers are denied training and a career path with future prospects, denied secure wages and conditions, denied regular hours, and denied the ability to plan their lives.

“The system effectively makes them second class citizens with bad effects on their working lives, families and community, as they work from day to day and have no ability to secure mortgages and a regular income.”

He says the responsibility for the current problems largely lies with international shippers whom play off port against port, stevedore against stevedore, leading to a race to the bottom as the easiest way to save money is through creating a pool of insecure casual labour.

Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union has proposed a solution that a regulated pool of casuals is established in each port that stevedores employ workers from, and draw permanent labour from.

He says the Union welcomes Government action on this pressing social issue but much work remains to be done.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has attacked plans by employers to bring in migrant labour into the seafood industry after mass layoffs in the same sector.

A week after Sealord confirmed it would axe 323 jobs from its Nelson mussel factory, two South Island seafood companies Talleys and Aotearoa Seafood have applied to import 100 migrant labourers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says that the use of temporary labour being imported from overseas threatens local employment.

“It is utterly disgraceful that at a time when we have rising unemployment and surging living costs, employers are being allowed to knock the bottom out of the labour market.”

Mr Hanson says the key problem with finding workers was based around the poor wages paid in the local industry.

He says he is disturbed that Immigration authorities seem to have no understanding as to the social effects of the import of temporary labour.

“It is no exaggeration to say New Zealand is struggling with social problems caused by the lack of secure permanent jobs and some kind of career structure and future for young people.”

Mr Hanson says the use of short term workers imported from overseas disrupted local employment conditions, and opened up the overseas workers to exploitation.

“This is not the way to get a stable employment situation or a stable society.”

Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union has predicted that under free trade agreements the use of temporary labour being imported across borders would increase to drive down wages and conditions in a “race to the bottom.”

“Not only are jobs being exported to poor countries to take advantage of powerless workers, now the reverse is happening with the cross border use of temporary workers being imported to drive down wages here.”

Mr Hanson says temporary cross-border labour was very different to immigration, and emphasized the Maritime Union was an internationalist Union that supported workers of all nations.

“In this case it is clear the problem lies with immigration authorities and employers.”

Maritime workers are celebrating tonight after a successful resolution of the Port of Napier dispute in mediation this afternoon.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the week long dispute had been about secure local jobs being preserved at the port.

“We wanted shipping companies to be able to use stevedores where secure local jobs could be achieved. Shipping companies wanted a solution, we supplied one, and the port is back in action as of now.”

Mr Hanson says officials went down to the picket line this afternoon to break the good news shortly before 3pm.

“We’ve had our members out on the port gates for nearly a week, and today there was a great sense of relief that these workers will have work tomorrow and into the future.”

Mr Hanson says the picket will be taken off the gates immediately, and workers will be working around the clock over the weekend to clear the backlog of work before Christmas.

“The port was effectively shut down during this dispute and now it will be back to business as usual.”

Mr Hanson says the dispute had been unnecessary, and had caused damage to the reputation of the port, but the Union would seek to ensure a successful year in 2008 as long as secure jobs were available to local people.

He says the defining moments of the dispute were the tenacity of the local workers who manned 24 hour pickets on the port gates, the support of other unions and the CTU, and the massive global support from the international working class including the Maritime Union of Australia and the International Transport Workers Federation.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has claimed a major victory in its battle to save secure local jobs at the Port of Napier.

The container vessel Canberra Express left the Port of Napier last night (Wednesday 19 December) at approximately 11pm with no cargo discharged after sitting idle at the port.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says this is a major development in the dispute and a victory for local workers.

“The ship wasn’t worked. Ships are now going past Napier and will continue to go past Napier, until agreement is reached that no jobs will be lost.”

Mr Hanson says that following massive international support from global transport Unions, the ship owner had decided to take the vessel to Australia without it being worked in the Port of Napier, due to the escalating industrial situation in the port.

“The damage to the local economy and reputation of the port is unnecessary, and is a direct result of the management at the port deciding to launch an aggressive attack on secure local jobs.”

Mr Hanson says local workers have no place to go, and the Maritime Union and its international affiliates were committed to ongoing action.

Mediation between management and the Union continues today with New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly arriving in Napier to join the mediation.

Moves by the Port of Napier to contract out stevedoring work threaten 25 permanent and 60 casual jobs at Hawkes’ Bay Stevedoring Services, in what the Union says is a move to destroy secure local jobs and undermine wages and conditions.

A continuous picket has been held at the port gates around the clock since 6am Saturday 15 December with local workers being joined by delegations of maritime workers from around New Zealand and Australian ports.

Workers on the Maritime Union picket line at the Port of Napier were told early this morning that tens of thousands of dollars of solidarity donations were flooding in from around the world.

A hardship fund is being set up to look after the workers, many of whom are casual workers, as they face a tough Christmas.

A round the clock picket has been held since 6am Saturday and will continue until resolution of the dispute.

Rain has not dampened the spirit of the workers who are receiving strong support from local people.

Groups of workers have been arriving from around North Island ports today to relieve the picket line.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says some local workers have spent nearly every waking hour on the picket line, and have been told by the Union to go home and get some rest.

“The level of commitment here is incredible.”

Mr Hanson says the workers have the full support of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) that represents millions of workers around the world.

“The ITF have identified the Port of Napier as a port that is attacking secure jobs, and this is already having a major effect on shipping in the port.”

Mediation takes place today in Napier between the Union and management.