38 seamen to lose jobs when ferry laid up

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 8

38 seamen to lose jobs when ferry laid up

The proposed LytteltonWellington freight ferry Spirit of Competition will be laid up at Lyttelton today and her two crews totalling 38 officers and men paid off. The ship’s owner, the Christchurch-based Pacifica Shipping Company, Ltd, and the Waterside Workers’ Federation have been unable to reach agreement on berthing arrangements. The general secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, Mr Sam Jennings, said from Wellington last evening that the federation would go through the usual conciliation procedure on berthing arrangements. “They (the employers) brought the vessel into the country without agreement with the watersiders. If the

company wants to try to race this thing and demand we accept its conditions it is just not on,” said Mr Jennings. * Pacifica’s chairman, Mr Brooke McKenzie, said yesterday that the decision to lay up the new vessel and pay off the two crews had been made reluctantly, but it was unavoidable. “We cannot have the ship sitting there building up costs,” said Mr McKenzie. The Spirit of Competition was to have joined the Spirit of Free Enterprise on the Lyttelton-Wellington run early last month. She will be laid up at Lyttelton indefinitely. Mr McKenzie said that he could give no guarantee of re-employment to the 38 officers and crew.

Unless a fresh pact on berthing arrangements could be reached with the unions, Pacifica might be forced to sell the Spirit of Competition, he said. She was held up in Australia for several weeks on her delivery voyage from Marseilles while Pacifica argued with the Cooks and Steward’s Union over manning levels. Pacifica has enjoyed great success with the Spirit of Free Enterprise during her two years on the interisland run. Mr McKenzie acknowledged there was a possibility that the Spirit of Free Enterprise might also now be a target of union action. “That could put the present service in jeopardy as well,” said Mr McKenzie. “I

would be very disappointed.” About 18 of the 38 men paid off are members of the Seamen’s Union. The union’s South Island secretary, Mr Terry Stuart, said the union had not been formally advised of the dismissals and he had not been aware that such a decision had been made. “We will be discussing with the company the question of continued employment of these men," he said. The other unions involved are the Merchant Service Guild, the Cooks and Stewards’ Union, and the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers. The manning dispute has been referred to the Waterfront Industry Tribunal. It may be heard next month.