Power play at port of Lyttelton

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 1

Power play at port of Lyttelton

By

YVONNE MULDER

The Lyttelton Harbour Board, its port establishment unit, and the two biggest unions there are locked in a struggle for control of the port of Lyttelton.

A row which has simmered for months over the appointment of the chief executive of the new port company erupted at yesterday’s board meeting.

The chairman of the establishment unit, Mr Allan Williams, was asked by the board to resign but he has declined and is backed by the unit and the unions.

The unions threatened to take industrial action and the other members of the establishment unit suggested they would resign if Mr Williams was forced out.

The issue was brought to a head by revelations that the unit had destroyed all copies of a controversial consultant’s report related to the chief executive’s appointment. In a closed meeting, sources said, board members yoted six to five to oust Mr Williams and Mr Don Church, the board’s deputy chairman and another member of the establishment unit, from the unit. Certain board members felt it was irresponsible and unacceptable to shred the report, which Mr Williams had acknowledged was “controversial.”

Mr Williams, who was waiting outside during the closed session, was told that the board had decided the two men might resign at the unit meeting later that afternoon.

However, the closed meeting had hardly finished when representatives of the harbour workers’ and the watersiders’ unions arrived to try to influence the proceedings. The unionists spoke with Mr lan Brokenshire, the board’s general manager, who has been appointed chief executive of the new port company. Mr George Wright, the board’s chairman, and Mr Williams soon joined the

discussion. The calls for Mr Williams’ resignation were based on personality conflicts and political game-playing, and had nothing to do with the good of the port, said the secretary of the Harbour Workers’ Union, Mr Paul Corliss, after the discussion.

“We will not work with a new establishment unit,” he said. “It has taken us 11 bloody months to get a good working relationship with this unit and we are not prepared to go through that whole process again.” The secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Union, Mr Warren Collins, said his members were not happy with some of the appointments made by the unit but they had accepted them and were beginning to build trust with the appointees.

The issue of the „ shredded report was simply an excuse certain members of the board were using to take over the unit and ultimately the port company, the union representatives said. Throughout the day the proresignation and anti-resignation camps held quick meetings, made hurried telephone calls, and lobbied board members.

At the unit meeting in the afternoon, the five other unit members asked Messrs Williams and Church not to heed the call to resign.

Mr Church said afterwards that he had tendered his resignation. Mr Williams said he would not resign until a special meeting of the board, called for Tuesday, had confirmed the resignation request. Mr Wright said he was prepared to call a special meeting in order to air the concerns of the unions and the unit. He would ask the board to confirm or rescind the decision to ask Mr Williams to go, he said.

Political reporter

Legislation to introduce better control of endangered species was introduced in Parliament last evening. The Trade in Endangered Species Bill would allow New Zealand to join 95 countries as parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (C.1.T.E.5.) in a valuable example of international

co-operation, said the Minister of Conservation, Ms Clark. Most of New Zealand’s trading partners were parties to the convention.

It listed animals and plants that were threatened with extinction and affected by trade, and those that might be threatened with extinction unless the trade was regulated, she said. It covered trade in live

animals, birds, and plants such as orchid and cacti species. It also applied to trade in such items as skins of the big cats, crocodiles and reptiles as well as collectable items such as those made from ivory.. If live specimens were imported unlawfully they had to be returned to their country of origin, Ms Clark said.