Maritime union to be informed of port's proposal

Friday 20th January 2012

Ports of Auckland is outlining its plan to hire outside contractors at a formal consultation with the Maritime Union of New Zealand this morning.

It is understood this meeting between the two disputing parties will be used as an opportunity for ports to share with MUNZ the details of requests for proposals (RFPs) issued to several outside contracting companies last week.

“It’s about talking about the vision for the proposal,” ports spokeswoman Catherine Etheredge said.

A sixth union 24-hour strike planned for Jan 31 was called off on Wednesday night after ports agreed to let MUNZ hold a stop-work meeting for four hours on the same day. However the union expects to give notice of another strike if the proposal to pursue outside contracting is continued.

The RFPs issued by ports are expected to be returned to the company by the end of the month.

Union president Garry Parsloe has previously said if redundancies go ahead he doesn't know where ports will find an equally skilled workforce and warns that a high number will likely leave New Zealand.

(BusinessDesk)

10:35:09

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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