Ferries cancelled after loading delay

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 1

Ferries cancelled after loading delay

P A Wellington Cook Strait rail ferry sailings will be seriously disrupted today with the cancellation of two sailings. Sailings by the Arahura were cancelled last evening after chaotic delays earlier affected the ferry in Picton. Railway workers took more than three times longer than usual unloading and loading the ferry in Picton on Thursday afternoon.

At the centre of the delays is a controversial new work roster for railway workers, due to be introduced by the Railways Corporation early tomorrow. Cancelled sailings of the Arahura were this morning’s 8 a.m. voyage from Wellington to Picton, and the noon voyage from Picton to Wellington. Hundreds of travellers, whose plans coincided with the end of school holidays, are likely to be affected.

The Railways said last evening that the late departure of the Arahura from

Picton on Thursday afternoon threw its timetable totally off schedule.

It said it would try to accommodate booked cars and passengers from the cancelled sailings on the next sailings. Railways Corporation executives were last evening adopting a wait-and-see attitude to the introduction of new work rosters on the Christchurch-Picton railway line.

The rosters will be introduced at 3 a.m. tomorrow, and concern the reduction of freight trains on the South Island railway line from 59 to 53 services a week. National Union of Railwaymen members at Picton have not agreed to the rosters.

The union’s national president, Mr George Finlayson, said last evening that the termination of negotiations on the rosters threatened the stability of industrial relations in the railway industry. “There have been no negotiations in the manner in which they are normally conducted in our industry,” he said. The union did not believe the corporation could work the new rosters while at the same time ensuring its regulations were observed and the health and safety of its members and the public were safeguarded. “Inevitably, the health and safety of our members will be threatened to ensure that trains and ferries run on time,” Mr Finlayson said.