Lyttelton Port workers gear up to strike on Tuesday night

Monday, 19 March 2018

Rail and Maritime Transport Union South Island organiser John Kerr worries the dispute will affect productivity at the port for 'months if not years'.

Two hundred Lyttelton Port workers are set to strike at midnight on Tuesday after the latest negotiations failed last week.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) organiser John Kerr said the only word he has heard from the Lyttelton Port Company over the weekend, was a letter which said even if the union revoked its strike notice, workers would not be paid as there would be no ships in the port to work on.

Kerr said the company was 'boxing workers into a corner' with the letter.

'Sooner or later we're going to settle this, and my fear is that the relationships on that waterfront are going to be so damaged, that this is going to have an impact on productivity for months, if not years,' he said.

**READ MORE:

Lyttelton port workers are set to resume striking Tuesday night.

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Lyttelton Port Company did not respond to requests for comment.

But, in a copy of the letter sent to the union, obtained by Stuff, Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) operations manager Paul Monk said all shipping to and from Lyttelton Port from March 21 to March 25 was cancelled or had been deferred to other ports and could not be reinstated.

Monk said the late notice of cancelling strikes previously had caused problems at the port, though some ships were able to return to the port after a strike notice was withdrawn last week.

RMTU has already withdrawn three strike notices this month, with at most four day's notice. The port company needed to give shipping companies at least seven days notice to cancel or divert ships.

Monk said a previously re-routed Maersk ship that had capacity of 1200 containers was able to deliver only 250 containers to Lyttelton last week due to the short notice.

'It is highly unlikely that it will be possible to re-route shipping again on such short notice,' Monk said in the letter.

Kerr said workers were due to meet on Wednesday to discuss if they would continue for the full duration of the strike.

But he said no futher negotiations were scheduled with the port company.

'We told them at the end of last week that we would meet over the weekend and all we got back was a threatening letter.'

Negotiations collapsed last week after the company refused to pay 54 workers a total of $33,000 for working two days after the strike notice was withdrawn.

The dispute started over a collective agreement that expires in September. Union members were also demanding that more be done to improve fatigue-related safety concerns during long work hours and a pay increase to bring them in line with other port workers.

Monk said last week LPC made a 'very generous' offer of 3 per cent salary increase for three years.

A week-long strike could cost the port company more than $1 million in lost revenue, based on estimated port charges to shipping companies.

The port company had scheduled 10 ships to come this week, but many were re-routed due to the impending strike.

Monk said last week there would be serious supply shortages because Lyttelton managed more than half the South Island's containers and 70 per cent of imports.

It is understood the port's chief executive Peter Davie is still overseas.