Waterfront commission faces redundancy

Press, 30 September 1988, Page 6

Waterfront commission faces redundancy

By

GLEN PERKINSON

in Wellington The Government may be about to axe the Waterfront Industries Commission, a move which would be welcomed by the Waterfront Employers’ Association said its chief executive, Mr David Young, yesterday. The Waterside Workers’ Federation will oppose the move. The Minister of Transport, Mr Jeffries, announced yesterday that the Government had given a “high-powered” group of Ministry of Transport and Labour Department officials the task of investigating the commission. The commission reacted to the possibility of its demise with the warn-

ing that the industry needed good administration to maintain industrial harmony on the waterfront. Mr Jeffries expected to hear back from the investigation team before the end of next month. The commission, which has existed for almost 50 years, is a quango that organises labour for New Zealand’s ports, paying the labourers who are employed by stevedoring companies. But the employers see the commission as a pointless intermediary serving only to pay the workers they employ. Mr Jeffries admitted yesterday that the commission had been neutral as an administrator and had helped keep New

Zealand’s industry “relatively corruption-free.” “Its influence has certainly coincided with a relatively peaceful industrial relations climate on our wharves,” he said. But because of the new port companies that start up on October 1 and the changing environment at New Zealand’s ports, Mr Jeffries questioned its relevance. Ports would be in competition with one another and would need to react to change. The commission gave special treatment to a single group of. workers while other industries did not receive such differential treatment. “I think a form of local structure is preferable,” he said. Mr Jeffries said the

Government was interested in a new structure that was “realistic and' will encourage efficiencies.” Changes that could arise from the removal of the commission were permanent and more efficient stevedoring workforces at each port, and a closer involvement of the new pOrt companies with waterside labour. The commission’s general manager, Mr Brian Wood, said it had given waterside workers guarantees of conditions and availability of work that could be lost without a commission. Mr Young said the disestablishment of the commission was something employers had been pushing for.