Work stops at Lyttelton

Press, 26 February 1981, Page 4

Work stops at Lyttelton

Lyttelton watersiders met yesterday morning.and voted to -return to work, in spite of'* their having stopped work on Tuesday afternoon in protest against the arrest of /the Auckland Airport picketers. .... However, when the watersiders returned to .their, jobs abbut 7.30 a.m.’, 1 they found that members of;.-: another port union, the 'Lyttelton branch of the New Zealand, Stevedores’ Union, had decided to withdraw their labour until 7 a.'mi. today over the same, issue, .jhiis effectively . halting all, cargohandling at the port, j., ~ . .. The Stevedores’ Union mepibers. will- hold meeting this morning to decide what, if .any, additional

industrial action they will Members of the New Zealand" Seamen’s Union remain on strike, also over the Auckland arrests, and have stopped the arrivals and departures of several ships. While the Lyttelton watersiders returned to work only to' find no work available, and to be sent home on basic pay, they did agree, according’ to the branch secretary, Mr M. E. Foster, to “stand by for additional developments,” although no meeting was set for today... The seamen, a spokesman said, would stay . out "indefinitely” -until the charges against - the Auckland picketers' Were withdrawn. : No action has yet. been

taken by Lyttelton members of the Harbour Boards’ Employees Union, although one informed source said that a meeting might be held today if there was no withdrawal of the Auckland charges. Apart from the seamen and the watersiders, no other trade unionists in Canterbury are known to have taken direct action yesterday in support of the Auckland engineers. The vice-president of the Canterbury Trades Council, Mr H. McCrory said that the matter would probably be discussed at this evening’s monthly meeting of the council.