Maritime Union of New Zealand workers and families have been fighting to save their jobs from contracting out at the Ports of Auckland. MUNZ photo.
Global shipping line Maersk has announced a penalty charge for freight crossing Auckland’s wharves, as more than 300 port workers began a three-week strike.
The company told customers it could no longer afford to carry “significant extra costs” caused by the industrial turmoil, which in December it blamed in part for a decision to move about 40 per cent of its Auckland business to Tauranga.
What it is calling its “Auckland strike surcharge”, to be lifted only if and when stability can be restored to the port, would amount to an extra US$80 ($95.60) for each 20-foot (6.1-metre) container, and double that for 40-foot (12.2m) boxes.
Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said the surcharge was not unexpected and reinforced the need “to bring closure to this issue”.
But Maritime Union president Garry Parsloe said any losses were on Mr Gibson’s head, as the workers were striking against his threat to sack them and contract out their jobs.
“If he rang us up now and said he would stop the contracting-out, the port would be back to work five minutes later. You’d think a bloke who had half a brain would do that.”