Substantial progress for transport under the Labour-led Government

The Mari­time Uni­on says sub­stan­tial pro­gress in the ports and ship­ping sec­tor in the last term needs to be con­tin­ued under a Labour-led Gov­ern­ment.

Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and Nation­al Sec­ret­ary Craig Har­ris­on says three key suc­cesses of the cur­rent Gov­ern­ment have been in build­ing coastal ship­ping cap­ab­il­ity, improv­ing health and safety through the Ports Health and Safety Lead­er­ship Group, and lay­ing the found­a­tions for improved con­di­tions in the industry through Fair Pay Agree­ments.

He says the interests of the trans­port industry are wider than share­hold­er profit, and the needs of work­ers and the envir­on­ment need to be pri­or­it­ized.

Mr Har­ris­on says the $30 mil­lion coastal ship­ping fund has seen new New Zea­l­and flagged ves­sels come onto the coast after years of decline.

He says fol­low­ing the pan­dem­ic dis­rup­tion, the trans­port industry now acknow­ledges the need for a vibrant coastal ship­ping sec­tor.

“Coastal ship­ping is a low emis­sion mode and provides resi­li­ence in the face of the extreme weath­er events that are already dis­rupt­ing land trans­port links.”

He says the devel­op­ment of the Port Health and Safety Lead­er­ship Group led by Mari­time New Zea­l­and and imple­men­ted by the Gov­ern­ment has been a game changer.

“The mari­time industry has had a ter­rible rate of deaths and injur­ies in recent years, and this is now chan­ging as the industry works togeth­er under the new sys­tem.”

Mr Har­ris­on says Fair Pay Agree­ments (FPAs) are a great step for­ward for under­val­ued work­ers.

“Even employ­ers now acknow­ledge the low wage cas­u­al­iz­a­tion mod­el has been a fail­ure and we have to provide decent wages and con­di­tions for all work­ers.”

He says work­ers make up the major­ity of voters and need to focus on real issues and the facts of what was in the interests of work­ing-class people.

“Past prom­ises of tax cuts have always benefited the wealthy sec­tion of the pop­u­la­tion – they do not bene­fit the major­ity of work­ers who need bet­ter wages and con­di­tions and pub­lic ser­vices.”

Mr Har­ris­on says Labour and the Greens have demon­strated a clear com­mit­ment in Gov­ern­ment to the interests of work­ers and a sus­tain­able and resi­li­ent trans­port industry.