New Zealand: An extremely disruptive collective employment dispute has erupted between Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ).
With the parties currently unable to find a compromise over their respective positions on wages and conditions, two 24-hour union strikes either side of two 24-hour port company lockouts will commence at 10.30pm (local time) tonight. A subsequent repeat 96-hour period of action has been announced by the two parties to commence at 10.30pm on December 8.
Ports of Auckland estimates that six vessels and about 4,700 containers will be affected by the initial round of action, resulting in a loss of up to NZ$1.2 million (US$930,000) revenue for the port company. The second round of action would affect a further seven ships and as many as 7,500 containers.
Affected stakeholders are urging the two parties to find a solution, particularly given the time of the year. However, the heads of both organisations are expressing increasingly bitter public sentiments.
Iain MacIntyre
