Lyttelton Port workers call for council to help resolve employment dispute

Thursday, 8 March 2018

Lyttelton Port workers clad in hi-vis and waving union banners rallied outside the Christchurch City Council offices on Thursday to call for intervention in their dispute with the port.

'What do we want? Fair deal. When do we want it? Now. Workers rights are under attack. Stand up. Fight back,' went the call-and-response chants, punctuated by blasts from an air horn.

About 50 Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) port workers and their supporters gathered at the council buildings at 12pm to ask the council to step in.

The Christchurch City Council owns Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) through its commercial arm, Christchurch City Holdings Limited (CCHL). LPC and the union are currently locked in a prolonged dispute over the terms of a new collective contract.

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Some RMTU members - about 25 according to the port - went without pay on Thursday after a strike notice was withdrawn with less than seven days' notice.

The union has characterised the move as an illegal lockout, while LPC has expressed its disappointment that the union instructed workers to turn up when they knew work was not available.

'International shipping movements are planned at least a week in advance. RMTU knows that,' LPC operations manager Paul Monk said.

'Our wharves are empty today, but the RMTU still wants its members paid. The RMTU is not acting in good faith.'

Council chief executive Karleen Edwards accepted a letter from the union on behalf of acting mayor Andrew Turner.

In it, the union called for the council to use its influence to get the port to pay its members.

A council spokeswoman said CCHL's position was it would be inappropriate for the shareholder to intervene in an employment dispute.

RMTU South Island organiser John Kerr claimed about 70 workers were going without pay. He said the seven days' notice was arbitrary, and the union was considering its legal avenues.

'LPC is wholly owned by Christchurch City Council so we're appealing to our mayor and councillors to step in and encourage management to change their minds.'

Kerr said mediation on Wednesday came close to resolving the dispute. Contentious roster changes had been dropped and they were 'really close to a deal' on the money.

Further strike notices issued for Friday through until Monday - when another meeting is planned - have been withdrawn. Monk said it was too late for shipping to return during the period and there would be little work available.

'There is no lock-out of the union's members by LPC and nothing of this sort has been advised from LPC to the Union or its members.'

RMTU member and cargo handler Joshua North-Johanson said he went to the port on Thursday morning and was told by his manager there was no work available.

'It was disappointing. And on Monday I hope they give us the little bit we're asking for, and let's get back to work. It's not good for anybody.'

LPC made what it described as a 'very generous offer' in Wednesday's mediation. It dropped the roster changes and offered the union 3 per cent salary increases each year for three years.

North-Johnanson said the union was asking for pay parity with the other major waterfront union. It wanted a 4 per cent increase the first year, then 3 per cent each year for the next two.

'It's only 1 per cent for the first year,' he said. 'And the cost of that is pretty minimal compared to what it'd be if we went on strike,' fellow cargo handler and union delegate Stu March added.

Workers expressed their disappointment at the absence of LPC chief executive Peter Davie, who last year was Christchurch's highest paid public poss, taking home $955,000.

LPC has said he remains 'fully involved', but have not answered questions about his exact whereabouts and when he will return.