Labour relations seen as vital to container plans

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32567, 29 March 1971, Page 2

Labour relations seen as vital to container plans

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 28. A port labour force had to be very carefully prepared before the start of a container service, said the chairman of the Port of London Authority (Lord Simon) in Wellington today.

Lord Simon, in New Zealand on a short visit, has been chairman of the Authority since 1958. He had been asked to list some of the problems which London had faced with containers. “The ground has to be very carefully prepared with labour,” he said. Methods and agreements had to be carefully worked

out in advance, and men needed special training to handle the very large container cranes and carriers which worked at the waterside. Lord Simon said the Port of London had been able to reduce its labour force by 25 to 30 per cent because of the new methods of cargo handling. Severance payments were “very favourable," and a middle-aged man with some years of experience on the dock might be given a year’s pay when he became redundant. However, the labour agreements were such that no men could be forced to leave. The cuts in staff were purely voluntary—the authority offered the severance payments in the hope enough men would take them up. In practice this had happened and the working of double shifts on some berths also helped to absorb surplus labour from container CARGO PROBLEM One problem which containers had brought was that the handling of residual cargo, which for various reasons could not go in containers, became much more “It can be really difficult—the left-over cargo becomes awfully expensive,” he said. “Discussions with labour should start when work on the berth starts. This should give about 18 months.” In London’s case, the task of keeping labour informed was made easier through two representatives of the port labour force on the board of the authority. It had been the first body of its kind to have this labour representation, dating from 1909.

“The worth of such t system depends to some de gree on the persons concerned, but in the 13 years I have been chairman we have had jolly good ones," he said. The impression had perhaps been gained that the Tilbury container dispute had been widespread, but in fact it was confined to one berth. Two other container berths were worked fully throughout the 18-month stoppage. RATE CUT Questioned about the Meat Board’s scheme aimed at diverting 60,000 tons of meat imports away from London, Lord Simon said it should be remembered that 200,000

tons of meat would still pass through the port A labour problem which had been increasing meat handling costs had been resolved, and charges had been reduced $2 a ton from March 15. A difficult problem to solve was the demand for meat to be sorted at the wharf for the London meat market, but he would be seeing the Meat Board and he was sure some agreement would be reached. “We’re not regarding it as disastrous,” he added. Lord Simon said the British lines had not yet committed themselves to Tilbury for the New Zealand container service when it began in mid-1973. The shipping lines had been given quotations by both London and Southampton. Tomorrow Lord Simon will meet producer boards, shipping companies, and other interested parties, and on Tuesday will have talks with Government leaders. He will then go to Auckland to address the annual conference of the Harbours Association.