Maritime Union joins hospital picket lines in Invercargill

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand is throw­ing its weight behind locked out hos­pi­tal work­ers around New Zealand.

Hun­dreds of low paid employ­ees of Spot­less Ser­vices Lim­it­ed have been locked out of their work. The lock­out is now on day six.

In Inver­cargill, mem­bers of the Bluff branch of the Mar­itime Union have trav­elled up from the Bluff water­front to join the pick­et lines at the hos­pi­tal.

Mar­itime Union Bluff Branch Sec­re­tary Ray Fife says mar­itime work­ers are sup­port­ing the locked out Ser­vice and Food Work­ers Union mem­bers 100%.

“Our branch has donat­ed $500 already and our mem­bers will be join­ing the locked out work­ers on their march tomor­row through cen­tral Inver­cargill.”

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Trevor Han­son says the locked out work­ers have the sup­port of the Mar­itime Union nation­al­ly.

He says Mar­itime Union branch­es have been active­ly sup­port­ing pick­ets in many cities around New Zealand.

Mr Han­son says con­tract­ing out, out­sourc­ing and casu­al­iza­tion are seri­ous issues for low paid work­ers in many indus­tries.

“We will be stand­ing by to offer any assis­tance that is request­ed of us because these locked out work­ers deserve the sup­port of all New Zealan­ders.”