Auckland’s Waterfront Strike Rolls On

by David Sexton - last modified Mar 26, 2012 01:41 PM

Following judicial conciliation last week PoA management agreed to delay plans to employ private contractors on the waterfront but refused to re-instate striking wharfies.

In a PoA statement, management told the union its “expectation” that workers could return immediately was unrealistic and there has been disruption to shipping caused by the ongoing strikes.

“The company has an obligation to those staff already allocated work for the next seven days and to ensure that staff are rostered at appropriate levels,”the PoA statement read.

PoA also said it has “a health and safety obligation” to staff given the events of the past months in relation to the strikes.

“The shift and roster system has also changed since the strikes came into effect. Staff are now working 12 hour shifts,” the statement read.

MUNZ and its international affiliate the ITF have criticised the decision not to re-instate workers.

MUNZ president Garry Parsloe said ports management had told the union its intention is for none of the 292 wharfies covered by the collective agreement will have any work until at least Friday.

“Aucklanders should be angry that Ports management has no clear plan in place to get the ports up and running as quickly as possible again,” Mr Parsloe said.

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