Work stoppage announced for Ports of Auckland
Workers at the Ports of Auckland have issued a strike notice in order to hold a stop work meeting between 12 noon and 4.30pm on Friday 5 June 2009 to discuss employment issues.
The Maritime Union of New Zealand announced the stoppage after mediation with port company management about new work conditions for union members to avoid redundancies took place on Thursday 21 May.
Maritime Union of New Zealand Local 13 President Denis Carlisle says the stopwork meeting will bring together workers at the Port to discuss ongoing negotiations around their expired collective employment agreement, which had been impacted by a management plan to slash jobs.
Campaign website launched for Ports of Auckland workers
Check out the new campaign website for all Ports of Auckland workers and supporters.
Maritime Union prepares to defend Auckland jobs
The Maritime Union says a plan to make Ports of Auckland workers redundant will be met with a strong response.
A national executive meeting of the Maritime Union held in Wellington today endorsed national action in support of the workers whose jobs are threatened at Ports of Auckland.
Representatives of the Auckland workers addressed the national meeting which unanimously endorsed industrial and legal strategies to fight job losses.
Maritime Union to fight Ports of Auckland redundancies
The Maritime Union says it will fight a decision to sack workers at the Ports of Auckland.
Ports of Auckland management today announced they are effectively shutting down the permanent workforce at the Bledisloe Terminal at the Ports of Auckland with the loss of 28 jobs.
Maritime Union of New Zealand Local 13 President Denis Carlisle says the Union is looking at all the options to save jobs.
Striking cabin crew get support: NZPA
The Maritime Union of New Zealand today voiced support for striking Air New Zealand cabin crew.
The 240 crew employed by Air NZ subsidiary Zeal walked off the job today for four days after months of fruitless negotiations over pay parity with staff employed directly by the airline.
Maritime workers back locked out flight attendants
The Maritime Union is backing locked out flight attendants employed by Air New Zealand subsidiary Zeal 320.
Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Trevor Hanson says waterfront workers and seafarers supported protests by locked out workers in Auckland and Wellington today.
“The Maritime Union will give full and active support to our fellow transport workers and their union the EPMU in this dispute.”
Maritime Union responds to job slashing exercise at Ports of Auckland
The Maritime Union of New Zealand says it does not accept the Ports of Auckland proposal to slash 30 jobs.
Maritime Union Local 13 Auckland Waterfront Branch President Denis Carlisle says the union met today with Ports of Auckland management to discuss the proposal.
He says the Union is concerned with the level of job losses and does not accept the reasons given by management.
OECD report pushes discredited anti-worker ideology
The Maritime Union says a just released OECD report on the New Zealand economy is a politically driven document with a right-wing, anti-working class agenda.
Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Trevor Hanson says some of the “market oriented reforms” proposed by the OECD report had been so discredited by the recent economic crisis and past history that it was a surprise anyone could suggest them with a straight face.
“How dare the authors of this report come out and preach policies that end in casualized jobs, long hours, shift work and low wages for New Zealand workers?”
Selling ports idea still doesn’t float
Maritime Union Local 13 President Denis Carlisle argues in the New Zealand Herald that attempts to rehash the privatization of the Ports of Auckland are pointless.
Nat’s transport funding plan puts New Zealand into reverse gear
The Maritime Union says the Government’s transport funding plan is an environmental and economic travesty.
The National Government has changed spending commitments of the previous Government and and released a statement on money it will put into developing land transport (including sea transport) for the next ten years.
The new plan includes a three year commitment to spending over seven billion dollars on road related expenditure – and even includes $51 million for cycling and walkways.
In comparison, it puts forward $1 million for “rail and sea freight” and $3 million for “domestic sea freight development.” (Yes — the figure is million not billion.)
That’s about one cent on rail and sea freight development for every twenty dollars on roads.