"Disbelief" over third strike notice by waterside union

Spell out what issues need ‘tweaking,’ says Auckland Chamber of Commerce head, Michael Barnett

Given that the Maritime Union spokesman confirmed on radio yesterday that the strike is about ‘tweaking’ a few issues, not about money, it is baffling why a third strike notice has been issued so close to Christmas and just a day after the port company’s largest customer, Maersk, switched its Southern Star service from Auckland to Tauranga because of the industrial action.

Michael Barnett called on the Maritime Union to spell out what the issues were that need ‘tweaking’, “so we can understand why Auckland has lost millions of dollars of business and is likely to lose more”.

“It goes against common sense to sacrifice jobs paying more than twice the average wage for the sake of holding out against the Port company on issues that the union says only need tweaking – for surely well paying jobs will be lost if the strikes persist and more shipping companies shift their business to Tauranga or elsewhere.”

Meanwhile Mr Barnett congratulated the Port company for lifting its lockout notice.

“It is now very obvious that the Port company must take a stand and ‘go for broke’ and seek a long-term resolution, he said. It is not as if the Port company hasn’t been generous in its wages and conditions, and plainly in today’s competitive world all businesses need to adopt flexible work practices to retain their competitiveness. Like any business, the Ports of Auckland must be able to manage its business to meet the competition.

“Our reputation and credibility as an easy city to do business has to be put right with speed and urgency,” he repeated.