The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) has joined a powerful new Global Maritime Alliance committed to halting the expansion of job-killing automation in ports worldwide.
Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay was a signatory to the historic “Lisbon Summit Resolution” signed this week in Lisbon, Portugal, at a special Anti-Automation Conference of the International Dockworkers Council.
The resolution unites dockworker (port worker) unions from around the globe who have pledged to collectively engage in coordinated global strike action against any company that invests in automation at the expense of workers.
The resolution, formally titled “Protecting Employment, Communities and Collective Bargaining against Job-Destructive Automation”, creates an international network for union coordination.
The Lisbon summit brought together hundreds of docker and port worker trade union representatives from more than 60 countries, establishing a historic framework for global action.
Mr Findlay says this is a historic and necessary step for dockworkers and all workers.
“This fight is not theoretical. It’s about protecting livelihoods right here in New Zealand.”
“We have already proven this battle can be won. At the Port of Auckland, MUNZ successfully fought and stopped a disastrous, ill-conceived automation project. That project was a costly failure that vindicated our warnings, and we are proud to have saved hundreds of jobs for Kiwis.”
Mr. Findlay says the push for automation comes when New Zealand’s unemployment rate rising and communities are already under severe financial pressure.
“At a time when Kiwis are facing a cost-of-living crisis and growing job insecurity, it is reckless for corporations to pursue automation with absolutely no plan for the workers and communities they intend to displace,” Mr. Findlay says.
Mr Findlay says good jobs are the lifeblood of our economy, as they provide the incomes families need to live, but automation is a direct threat to those incomes.
“We have to ask: will the CEOs and Boards pushing these schemes be automated out of their own jobs? If not, why is it only working people who are expected to sacrifice their futures for the benefit of highly paid management and shareholders?”
Mr. Findlay says the global alliance is not opposed to technology, but to its use as a weapon to eliminate workers.
“As was made clear in Lisbon, we are not against innovation, we are against its use to erase workers from the map,” says Mr. Findlay.
The new Global Maritime Alliance was inspired by the ILA’s successful strike action in the United States in 2024, which secured a contract protecting all workers from automation. The Lisbon Resolution now extends that principle worldwide.
“MUNZ will fully support this campaign,” says Mr. Findlay.
“Our message to port companies in New Zealand and around the world is simple: People Over Profits.”
