Two ferries halted by union dispute

Press, 28 February 1986, Page 4

Two ferries halted by union dispute

PA Wellington The Railways Corporation now has two out of its three rail ferries tied up at Wellington by an industrial dispute and is no longer accepting freight shipments across Cook Strait.

The Aratika and Arahanga were at their berths in Wellington yesterday as a result of the manning dispute with the Cooks and Stewards’ Union. But the Arahura is still sailing and booked passengers and cars have been able to across the strait with some delays. The Railways general manager, Mr Gordon Purdy, said 1500 freight wagons were stranded at Picton and Wellington.

"Some of our customers are getting really concerned,” he said. "We need to get, the freight across.”

A total of 36 unionists suspended by the Railways for refusing to sail shorthanded in the ferries Aratika and Arahanga are “sitting in” in the vessels. The union’s secretary, Mr Dave Graham, said yesterday that the ferry fleet flagship Arahura would not be affected, and she would keep sailing.

Mr Graham said he had visited the suspended Ara-

tika and Arahanga crew yesterday. Their morale was very high.

He backed their refusal to sail, saying that if there were not enough cooks and stewards on rosters the crew could not sail the ships.

Mr Graham said his members in the Arahura had agreed to keep .the vessel sailing even though the ship was also one unionist short.

He was prepared to discuss the suspensions with the Railways Corporation management but said he had little confidence in the Shipowners’ Federation.

Mr Purdy said the fed-

eration’s industrial committee was available to discuss the problem with the union. He said the manning dispute was with all shipowners’ represented by the federation, and the group considered there were enough cooks and stewards to crew New Zealand ships. Mr Purdy said industrial action against the Railways’ 1 ferries would not achieve anything for the union.

"It will simply damage an excellent record of frequency, reliability, and service of the rail ferries during the last 18 months,” he said.