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.”

He says some out­stand­ing issues around the work force struc­ture were also addressed by the Uni­ons.

“This is a mutu­ally accept­able solu­tion for Port Otago and its work­force and we are very happy that after some time a nego­ti­ated solu­tion has been put in place.”

A num­ber of vol­un­tary redund­an­cies are occur­ring at Port Otago.

Mr Adams says he believes that the agree­ment was a pos­it­ive step for­ward for Port Otago, and would lead to a stronger future for this major New Zea­l­and port.

“It is a dif­fi­cult eco­nom­ic peri­od, but the Port has weathered dif­fi­cult times before and we are con­fid­ent we will this time as well.”

Port Otago Lim­ited is owned by the people of Otago through the Otago Region­al Coun­cil.

ENDS

For more inform­a­tion, con­tact Mari­time Uni­on Nation­al Pres­id­ent Phil Adams on 0274 377601