Work to restart at some ports today

Press, 10 October 1989, Page 1

Work to restart at some ports today

By CULLEN SMITH AND PA Some ports are expected to begin working again today after an interim agreement between waterfront workers and employers. But the four container ports — Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers — will remain idle t until waterfront employers agree to fund redundancies for workers using conventional facilities.

The breakthrough, which will allow cargo to begin moving across regional wharves for the first time since October 1, was achieved yesterday after a meeting of the National Association of Waterfront Employers. The general secretary of the Waterfront Workers’ Union, Mr Sam Jennings, and the employers’ advocate, Mr John Button, signed the interim agreement in front of the chief industrial mediator, Mr Brian Gray. It would enable work in the regional ports to begin almost immediately, Messrs Jennings and Button said in a brief joint statement.

The deal follows the abolition of the Waterfront Industry Commission and its labour pool system under the Government’s port reform legislation which came into effect on October 1. “It will operate while individual port codes of employment

are negotiated in each of the regional ports covered by it to give effect to the deregulated port environment,” Messrs Jennings and Button said. It would not apply to the large Metropolitan ports. Commenting on developments yesterday, Mr Jennings said last evening that none of the container ports could agree on redundancy for workers in their associated conventional cargo areas.

“We’re pleased we’ve reached an interim agreement at least to get conventional cargo workjpg again,” he said. r v' Watersiders agreed to a further meeting with employers today with the aim of reaching a similar interim agreement covering the metropolitan ports. Such a deal would allow containers to move while the parties addressed the substantive issues of impending redundancies and individual port contracts. “We’re very optimistic that an interim agreement can be reached in the container area also,” Mr Jennings said. Harbour workers, meanwhile, are seeking a court ruling overturning the employers’ decision to lock them out of the Auckland and Port Chalmers container terminals, the Harbour Workers’ Union secretary, Mr Ross Wilson, said yesterday.

Harbour workers were locked out of the two ports as they, the Waterside Workers’ Union and port employers were unable to agree on conditions for working the terminals. Watersiders and employers agreed on interim working conditions for conventional ports more than a week ago. Negotiations broke down on arrangements for working roll-on roll-off ships at container terminals. Until now those ships have been worked at conventional wharves. A spokesman for the Port of Auckland said an arrangement was proposed which included a ratio of watersiders and harbour workers to work below deck and for the parties to work out an agreement to apply after six months. The Waterside Workers’ Union has said it would sign the agreement. Because the Harbour Workers’ Union would not agree to the interim arrangement, their members were locked out, the employers said. But the Harbour Workers’ Union yesterday applied to the Labour Court for a compliance order against the employers on the grounds that the lock-out was illegal, Mr Wilson said.

Cargo release bid, page 7