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Overseas trade endangered unless New Zealand has a maritime strategy

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand says that New Zealand’s over­seas trade could be in jeop­ardy unless the Gov­ern­ment has a plan for ports and the mar­itime sec­tor.

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Joe Fleet­wood, respond­ing to com­ments from the Min­is­ter of Trans­port Hon. Stephen Joyce, says it is not good enough for the Gov­ern­ment to leave it to chance when 99% of New Zealand’s imports and exports are shipped.

He says that there is wide­spread con­cern in the indus­try that in future car­go could be hubbed through a large Aus­tralian port, with com­plex and neg­a­tive effects for New Zealand.

Lack of plan for maritime industry a serious problem

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Joe Fleet­wood says recent state­ments from Min­is­ter of Trans­port Stephen Joyce and retir­ing Paci­fi­ca Ship­ping Chief Exec­u­tive Rod Grout on New Zealand ports and ship­ping show the need for imme­di­ate action in the mar­itime indus­try.

Mr Fleet­wood says it is incor­rect for the Nation­al Gov­ern­ment to say they want mar­ket forces decide the future of the mar­itime indus­try, when mas­sive tax­pay­er invest­ment was direct­ed at roads and rail.

He says that a “hands off” approach to the mar­itime indus­try means major mar­ket play­ers would dom­i­nate the mar­ket and make deci­sions that could harm New Zealand’s trans­port infra­struc­ture.

We support West Australian offshore workers

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand is sup­port­ing strike action by Mar­itime Union of Aus­tralia (MUA) mem­bers in the West Aus­tralian off­shore oil and gas indus­try.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Joe Fleet­wood says many New Zealan­ders work in the Aus­tralian mar­itime indus­try.

He says that the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand works close­ly with the MUA and oth­er unions in inter­na­tion­al alliances such as the Trans Tas­man Oil and Gas Alliance.

Mr Fleet­wood says the Aus­tralian work­ers had the full sup­port of mar­itime work­ers around the world.

Union meets with Labour Party on Ports of Auckland

On Wednes­day 23 Decem­ber rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand, Auck­land Branch, Local 13 met with Labour MP’s Trevor Mal­lard, Phil Twyford and Darien Fen­ton regard­ing the future of key Auck­land assets under the pro­posed Super City leg­is­la­tion.

Maritime workers oppose Ports of Auckland privatization sneak plan

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand says any attempt to pri­va­tize the Ports of Auck­land will be met with mas­sive oppo­si­tion.

The Gov­ern­ment wants to repeal a law requir­ing a ref­er­en­dum before shares are sold in the port as part of Super City leg­is­la­tion.

Mar­itime Union Auck­land Branch Local 13 Sec­re­tary Rus­sell Mayn says the work­force at the port is firm­ly opposed to any part or full pri­va­ti­za­tion of the port.

Maritime Union warns of declining standards on waterfront

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Joe Fleet­wood says employ­ers and Gov­ern­ment agen­cies appear to be turn­ing a blind eye to unsafe work­ing con­di­tions in New Zealand ports.

He says there have been ongo­ing feed­back from work­ers that paints a pic­ture of a decline in stan­dards in many ports.

Mr Fleet­wood says that the reces­sion and increas­ing com­pe­ti­tion for avail­able car­go in New Zealand ports means many employ­ers are cut­ting cor­ners.

Maritime Union slideshow on YouTube

Fea­tur­ing “Lamp­black” by Chris Prowse from the album “Trou­ble on the Water­front” avail­able on iTunes and good NZ music stores

Job losses averted at Port Otago

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand says an agree­ment it has reached with Port Ota­go Lim­it­ed is a “win win” sit­u­a­tion that will pre­vent job loss­es.

Mar­itime Union Nation­al Pres­i­dent Phil Adams says a meet­ing of 150 car­go han­dlers held yes­ter­day at Port Chalmers vot­ed in favour of a pro­pos­al ham­mered out by the Unions and the Com­pa­ny.

Mem­bers of the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand and the Rail and Mar­itime Trans­port Union attend­ed the meet­ing.

Mr Adams says the pro­pos­al will see no com­pul­so­ry redun­dan­cies amongst the work­force.

“We believe the work­force will respond to the Com­pa­ny’s efforts by con­tin­u­ing to ensure a high lev­el of pro­duc­tiv­i­ty.”