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Maritime Union (MUNZ local 13) workers are preparing for a two-week strike at the Ports of Auckland.
The port company has received notice from the union of a week-long strike starting on March 2 to follow the planned week-long strike starting February 24.
The port company’s CEO, Tony Gibson, says the union’s actions are disappointing and will cause considerable harm to many businesses and families.
The last mediation on the collective agreement was held with union representatives last Friday.
The five hour meeting was adjourned with an agreement the parties would meet again if either had something new to bring to the table.
It was noted that it was difficult to schedule mediation with the ongoing strike action. Despite that difficulty, Ports of Auckland has requested that MUNZ return to mediation. The response appears to have been the latest strike notice.
Ports of Auckland has also held three meetings with the union to consult on the proposal to contract out stevedoring labour at the container terminal.
“Consultation has been one-sided as union representatives have not yet responded to the company in the process,” says Tony.
“We have made it clear throughout this process that we are open to a solution through collective bargaining, but we are also pursuing a consultation process around potential contracting out.
“We are confident in the processes we are working through on both.
“Our focus is to provide the certainty our customers and employees are demanding as soon as possible.
“The union appears to have completely ignored the strong call from our customers to reach a long-term sustainable solution to prevent the New Zealand supply chain being held to ransom in the future.”
