Ports of Auckland workers will meet with their employer again this morning after announcing a week long strike yesterday, its longest yet.
The union will meet the company today to be updated on its controversial plan to contract out port jobs.
The stacks of shipping containers at the port show just how busy it is, and refusing to work for seven days is showing just how serious workers are about securing a new collective agreement, according to union president Gary Parsloe.
Mr Parsloe says the union has “had enough of the way they are treating the families and the workers down there” and the new action is required.
The strike notice came as city councillors were briefed by the council-controlled investment company that manages the port, Auckland Council Investments Limited (ACIL).
ACIL chief executive Gary Swift said plans to contract out jobs at the port were a last resort, and the port board and management have been “working very hard to try and negotiate a new collective agreement with the union, and they are still doing that”.
Councillor Cathy Casey questioned this, saying “if the collective contract fails, the wharfies’ jobs will be contracted out the next day – they will be locked out of their work”.
Mr Swift says the port needs a backup plan in case talks break down, as the resulting “major industrial unrest… would be a terrible situation for Auckland and New Zealand”.
There have already been over 100 hours of negotiation to resolve the dispute, and this morning there will be another attempt.
Watch the video for Tony Field's full report and Emma Brannam's analysis of the dispute
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