Forum will air port strike

Press, 11 December 1989, Page 3

Forum will air port strike

PA Tauranga Farmers, businesspeople and exporters have called a public forum in Tauranga on Wednesday to discuss the industrial strife which has closed the port for a month. The president of the Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers, Mr Graeme Shirley, said yesterday the forum was being held to tell the community what was happening at the port. The forum was arranged by the Bay of Plenty Agricultural Advisory Committee in association with the Export Institute and the Chamber of Commerce. The Port of Tauranga, Ltd, port employers, the Watersider Workers Union, and the forest, dairy, kiwifruit, fertiliser and shipping industries had been invited to state their position.

The forum is the latest effort to resolve the conflict between the three Mount Maunganui stevedoring companies and the 202 people hired on October 1 to load and unload the ships. “The forum wishes to bring together industry representatives and other port users with the employers and the unions to enable each organisation to inform the community of the problems they face on the port,” Mr Shirley said. “After the presentation of position papers there will be an opportunity for questions and answers so that the community is clear on the details surrounding the current port dispute.” The watersiders have not worked since November 10 and have been without steady employment since their award ex-

pired on September 31. Since the shipping has been at a virtual standstill, with up to 13 ships anchored in the roadstead off Mount Maunganui and as many as 12 ships berthed in the port, while large tonnages of cargo have been diverted to other ports for export. Mr Shirley said the port, as the largest export port in New Zealand and the fourth largest overall, must be efficient and costeffective to enable its users to be competitive on overseas markets. “Through our forum we can all learn how the port’s operations are affecting exporters and the local community,” he said. In Wellington on Saturday, the M.P. for Tauranga, Mr Winston Peters, said he was appalled the waterfront dispute had been allowed to drag on for so long.