Lyttelton joins strike

Press, 1 September 1989, Page 3

Lyttelton joins strike

Lyttelton watersiders joined the four-day national strike after a two-hour stopwork meeting early yesterday, leaving four ships idle. The chairman of the Port Employers’ Commit- ; tee, Mr Brian Stevens, ■ said he was “very, very • disappointed” at the stop- ‘ page. A shortage of labour at * the port because of illness and watersiders taking \ annual leave was com- ; pounding the situation. “We didn’t see it was necessary for them to take this sort of action,”

Mr Stevens said. Four vessels are stranded at the wharf and another is at anchor awaiting a berth. A meat ship, the Arctic Crystal, is expected tomorrow, and the trans-Tasman trader Auckland Express is expected on Monday. Hundreds of Japanese used cars are among cargo caught in the strike at Lyttelton, with two ships — the Akebono Reefer and the Hansa Brennen — expected to take another three days to unload. The bulk carrier Master

T., with a cargo of sulphur, is also scheduled for another three days work when the watersiders return. A container vessel, the Prospect, is tied up at Cashin Quay as the Lyttelton container terminal is out of action. The Chatham Islands trader Holmdale is unaffected, laid up between sailings, and the Pacifica inter-island ferries are exempted from the strike — the Auckland and Wellington runs are classed as essential services, as are the Cook Strait rail ferries.