Covid-19: Some port workers in Tauranga would rather leave than be vaccinated
Friday, 13 August 2021
Some port workers in Tauranga are prepared to lose their jobs rather than receive the Covid-19 vaccination, a port employee and the Maritime Union says.
The port worker, who is not directly employed by Port of Tauranga, says he knows of one company that will be losing “most” of their workers on September 30, SunLive reported.
Frontline port workers must have at least their first dose of the vaccination by the end of September under a Government legal order.
The worker, who spoke under anonymity, said some employees cited religious beliefs as the reason behind their vaccine hesitancy.
**READ MORE:
* Who, exactly, is monitoring vaccination numbers at the port in Tauranga?
* Lyttelton Port says 85 per cent of its frontline workers have received Covid-19 vaccines
* Maritime Union supports mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for port workers
**
He said at least two stevedoring companies, Independent Stevedoring and C3, would lose staff as they were unwilling to get vaccinated.
“Come the 30th, those companies will have a few people leaving the job,” he said.
Independent Stevedoring and C3 had no comment when approached by SunLive.
Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Craig Harrison said he respected the “freedom of choice” workers had regarding the vaccine.
He could not comment on the number of workers who were likely to be leaving their roles, however, he did admit some workers had informed him they were going to leave, rather than get vaccinated.
“We understand there are some workers who are making the call that their conviction is they don’t want to get vaccinated,” Harrison said.
“Some are saying they will actually finish up and look for something else to do.”
The Bay of Plenty’s low vaccination figures at the port became clear earlier this week, in the wake of the Covid-19 scare onboard the Rio de la Plata shipping container.
The ship, which has now left New Zealand for Malaysia, was berthed at the Port of Tauranga for four days last week before 11 of 21 crew onboard tested positive for Covid-19.
Port workers were cleared to work on the ship, despite alarm bells being sounded regarding an Australian pilot, who had been on board, testing positive for Covid-19.
Initially, 94 port workers were identified as contacts. It later became clear only nine of those workers were vaccinated.
Figures then emerged showing 60 per cent of frontline workers at the Tauranga port were unvaccinated, despite vaccinations being available since March.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins suggested misinformation was a potential factor behind the low vaccination uptake among Bay of Plenty port workers.
A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said “almost all” of their frontline staff are vaccinated. However, she said there are dozens of companies that worked on the port.
“We strongly support vaccination and have provided information sessions and vaccination centres on site,” she said.
“We are hosting another two vaccination clinics on site over the next two weeks. Vaccination is another useful tool in the fight against Covid-19, but we will continue to follow all our other precautions that have worked for the past 18 months.”
- Reporting by SunLive