Ripening bananas unloaded quickly

Press, 10 October 1989, Page 1

Ripening bananas unloaded quickly

By CULLEN SMITH Lyttelton watersiders working as volunteers unloaded the banana ship Ithaka Reefer in record time yesterday in the face of a threat by the importing company to bring in non-union labour. Three gangs of watersiders — about 60 workers — took six hours to empty the ship’s hold of 12,000 cartons of the rapidly ripening fruit The cargo’s unloading was delayed by shortages of port labour when the vessel arrived at Auckland on September 18 and then held up at Lyttelton by the national port stoppage from October 1. Lyttelton watersiders rejected a special unloading dispensation sought by the importer, Fruit Distributors, Ltd, on Friday. The Waterfront Workers’ Union general secretary, Mr Sam Jennings, recommended unloading early yesterday. Work began about 9 a.m. and was completed by 3 p.m. The managing director of Fruit Distributors, Mr Michael Dossor, said he was delighted that the union acceded to his request “My belief is that the union recognised there was a serious problem and decided something should be done about it” he said. At first inspection, about 10 to 15 per cent of the fruit would be written off as wastage.

Ripe fruit was being sold straight away, with some firm green bananas requiring commercial ripening and likely to be available later this week, Mr Dossor said.

“Much of it has been sold already. People have been coming in as they heard the ship was being worked,” he said. “We’re now hell-bent on geting it to markets as soon as we can.”

The Lyttelton Waterfront Workers’ Union secretary, Mr Warren Collins, said after viewing the condition of the fruit that he felt deceived by the company’s claims that it was spoiling quickly. “I didn’t see many ripe ones,” he said.

“A number of pallets were stowed in a bulkhead near the engine room and the heat could have ripened them early,” Mr Collins said.

Many of the watersiders were “not very happy” about unloading the ship. But the volunteers worked without pay on the understanding — as in previous dispensation cases — that any money paid by the importer would go to charity. “They haven’t got a job,” Mr Collins said.

“Some have been offered jobs when everything is sorted out, but there are approximately 180 who are going to be made redundant,” he said.