Sacking all Workers a disgrace

CTU Media Release

7 March 2012

Sacking all Workers a disgrace

The CTU condemns announcement by Ports of Auckland today that they intend dismissing over 300 port workers and proceed with contracting out their jobs.

Helen Kelly, CTU President, says “the union movement is 100 percent behind these workers and their families, and we will vigorously oppose the moves to dismiss these workers”.

“It is an outrageous approach to bargaining for the Port management to say – accept every change we want in the collective agreement or we will sack all of you and replace you with contracted labour that has to accept every one of our demanded changes in hours of work, and rosters, and reductions in so many other conditions of work essential for safety and job security”.

“These contractors will bring nothing but labour to this Port – no innovation, no infrastructure and no investment. The only thing they will compete on is the price of labour. Contracting is a ruse by the Port to drive down wages and conditions and maximise profit at the expense of Port workers.”

“This dispute is already spreading throughout New Zealand and internationally. It cannot be acceptable in this country to require workers in other ports to load and unload containers from a ship that in the midst of a strike has deliberately entered the port to be worked on by the same management who now want to sack all the workers, the same workers who process productively, and profitably, 37 percent of New Zealand’s container trade by working every hour of every day throughout the entire year.”

“Len Brown needs to clarify – does he support the dismissal of these workers or not?” said Helen Kelly.

ENDS

© Scoop Media