Maritime workers onboard protest at Port of Tauranga

A del­e­ga­tion of Mar­itime Union mem­bers will go onboard the ves­sel Buz­zard Bay at the Port of Tau­ran­ga today to deliv­er a mes­sage to the cap­tain about prac­tices aboard the ship.

The Buz­zard Bay is trad­ing with­out an Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers Fed­er­a­tion (ITF) agree­ment that guar­an­tees employ­ment con­di­tions are main­tained at an accept­able inter­na­tion­al­ly agreed lev­el, and the health, wel­fare, social and human rights of crew are also pro­tect­ed.

The over­seas crew on the ves­sel have been unlash­ing car­go in New Zealand waters with­out per­mits.

This work is nor­mal­ly done by New Zealand work­ers and is cov­ered by New Zealand laws.

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Trevor Han­son says that this will lead to job loss­es.

“The prob­lem is that there is no end point to the process, as work by over­seas crews will inevitably come onshore if we allow this kind of thing to con­tin­ue.”

He says the Mar­itime Union is con­cerned that this prob­lem will become more seri­ous if free trade agree­ments come into force.

“This issue is a major one around the world.”