Lyttelton port workers return to job

Press, 29 August 1989, Page 2

Lyttelton port workers return to job

By

PAM MORTON

Striking Lyttelton watersiders returned to work yesterday but scattered industrial action continues to affect ports throughout New Zealand.

Watersiders at Lyttelton, Auckland and Port Chalmers resumed work after walking off the job on Friday. The ports of Dunedin, Gisborne, Nelson, Tauranga and Whangarei, were targeted for action yesterday in protest against stalled award talks.

The secretary of the Waterfront Workers’ Union, Mr Sam Jennings, said the union’s national executive would meet in Wellington tomorrow to consider its next step. Award talks broke down on Thursday with port employers accusing the union of refusing to commit itself to reform on the waterfront. The employers want to negotiate individual port awards but watersiders are fighting to retain at least a skeleton national award document with the inclusion of separate port agreements.

Severe labour shortages at Lyttelton further delayed the unloading and loading of the Chinese roll-on vessel Zhang Jai Kou yesterday. The ship was caught up in strike action by watersiders at the week-end. Labour shortage means the ship is unlikely to leave the port before Thursday. Mr lan Thompson, the branch manager of Pacific Maritime, the ship’s agents, said the delays were frustrating and costly. The president of the Lyttelton branch of the National Association of Waterfront

Employers, Mr Brian Stevens, said there was an "acute” shortage of labour at the port.

Mr Stevens confirmed that stevedores were short of 102 watersiders, 13 tally clerks and three shipwrights. The shortages have occurred through members of the Waterfront Workers’ Union either going off sick or taking leave. About 800 cars are waiting to be offloaded from the Akebono Reefer and Hansa Bremen. Mr Stevens said 308 cars on the Akebono Reefer were unloaded after four watersiders were made available by the union to work as tally clerks. The Chatham Islands supply ship Holmdale, and Master T, carrying 10,000 tonnes of sulphur, were both being worked. The assistant secretary of the Lyttelton Waterfront Workers’ Union, Mr Steve Guest, said workers had gone back to work reluctantly. Members held a stop-work meeting yesterday morning to review their threeday strike action. “There was definitely a feeling from the floor of the hall that we go home,” he said. “We had a lot of trouble from keeping them going home.” Mr Guest said workers had been asked to go back to work by Mr Jennings.