Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, May 19th, 2017 - 134 comments
The Government is attempting through coercion and cajoling to get Auckland Council to privatise Ports of Auckland.
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, May 3rd, 2015 - 30 comments
Ports of Auckland’s recent behaviour outlines a major weakness with Auckland super city. Corporate interests are able to take precedence over the wishes of our democratically elected representatives.
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, October 29th, 2013 - 81 comments
Auckland authorities disrespected past worker struggles in allowing an art work on the waterfront, that commemorates the ruthless suppression of the 1913 strike. After protests, it has now been covered. Time for the many to unite for fairness at work & in daily living!
Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, December 17th, 2012 - 22 comments
You have to respect how the Ports of Auckland workers stood staunch in the face of the bosses’ attempt to contract out their jobs, without support from the ‘leftwing’ mayor and against an expensive PR effort. They’re still getting their own back. PoAL has just been fined for employing a strikebreaker. And, in Lyttelton, wharfies have started a smart new campaign.
Written By: - Date published: 6:53 am, September 18th, 2012 - 14 comments
Right now council owned ports are specifically exempted from the Official Information Act. This means billions of dollars of public money tied up in ports around the country that are under the control of largely unaccountable boards. Darien Fenton has a Bill that designed to fix this and it’s being read tomorrow. It’s a common sense Bill. It will be interesting to see who backs it.
Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, September 16th, 2012 - 42 comments
Things are going to get tough at the Ports of Auckland again.
Which means two things – the workers will win again, and they and the people of Auckland will pay the price.
In the meantime the has-been corporate warriors who are trashing the port will walk away with their bonuses.
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, August 27th, 2012 - 28 comments
Remember the Ports of Auckland lock-out? The bosses tried to starve out 300 worker to push through contracting out, and ‘save’ $6m a year. The workers won. Now, PoAL has reported a $12m loss caused by the $33m cost of the lockout. So, the bosses spent $33m trying to get a $6m a year ‘saving’. Time the councils sacks the managers who wasted that money.
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, May 7th, 2012 - 11 comments
Over the past few months, we’ve seen Auckland City’s wholly-owned port, Ports of Auckland, waging war against its own workforce, costing the city millions of dollars in lost dividends. Now, the Auckland Council has acted, requiring its intermediate Auckland Council Investments Limited to impose “good employer” provisions on its subsidiaries.
Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, April 16th, 2012 - 15 comments
Ports of Auckland management admit they gave Slater/Lusk the confidential employment details of a worker who criticised the bosses’ disastrous bargaining strategy. At least 2 other workers were victims of the same misdeed. CEO Tony Gibson needs to sack the senior staff responsible. If he can’t or won’t, he’s incompetent or complicit and ought to go himself.
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 13th, 2012 - 40 comments
It was a bad day yesterday for the ‘heavy hitters’ of the Collins faction, Slater and Lusk. First, Ports of Auckland admitted supplying them with a workers’ private details. Then, the smear on the Meatworkers that they had orchestrated with Talley’s was shot down by the SFO in record time. Finally, Michelle Boag gave them a public serve on RNZ, fueling civil war talk.
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 pm, April 12th, 2012 - 114 comments
Ports of Auckland has called for facilitated bargaining.
How might this play out?
Written By: - Date published: 6:51 am, April 5th, 2012 - 80 comments
Darien Fenton has a bill in the ballot designed to put public ports back on the OIA.
It’s about time – there’s been no accountability or transparency at our ports for too long.
It will be interesting to see the government’s response.
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 1st, 2012 - 28 comments
Once upon a time, decades ago now, ports were run by a person called the Harbourmaster. He used to be a highly qualified and experienced Master Mariner, who had extensive knowledge of shipping and decades of experience, at sea and within the port. All this competence and experience came at a wage, at most, five times the average wage.
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, March 31st, 2012 - 50 comments
The PoAL management looks as incompetent and divided as the Nats after their ‘bullet-proof’ contracting out plans were shot down by the Employment Court and a director resigned publicly admonishment management’s strategy. Time to use that bully pulpit, Len. Say you have no confidence in Pearson and Gibson, demand they drop their plans, and get the port back to work.
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, March 30th, 2012 - 47 comments
Things are not going so well for Ports of Auckland. “Ports of Auckland lifts lock-out amid board rift” sums it up…
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, March 29th, 2012 - 9 comments
Apparently the Auckland Council doesn’t know how much the POAL fiasco is costing. Rough estimates suggest that the cost is at least $400,000 a day, probably significantly more. No wonder the Council doesn’t want to know.
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, March 28th, 2012 - 43 comments
Ports of Auckland must pay the permanent workers among the union members it had illegally locked out. It’s only a partial victory for workers who want to work and have long-term job security, not just get paid for two weeks. But it’s yet another costly defeat for management. How long will they keep burning ratepayers’ money like this before the council acts?
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, March 27th, 2012 - 6 comments
Mediation broke down in the Port dispute again yesterday with the PoAL management still refusing to make any concessions. So it’s back to court for a ruling on PoAL’s lockout without notice. Hopefully, the Court will side with reason, force the Port to allow the workers back and impose compensation for lost wages along with hefty fines.
Written By: - Date published: 2:27 pm, March 25th, 2012 - 15 comments
Keeping PoAL workers out makes no sense industrially.
It means the port’s taking a political and PR hit without even gaining some cleared containers.
But perhaps getting the port making money isn’t the endgame for this dispute…
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, March 24th, 2012 - 38 comments
We’ve received the following press release from Auckland Council Local Board members calling on Len Brown and the councilors to stand up to PoAL’s out of control management. The workers want to work and be more productive. The bosses want to screw them out of their pay to increase profits and are acting irrationally in pursuit of that goal.
Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, March 23rd, 2012 - 5 comments
The Herald editorial says many “saw a more efficient and more flexible port emerging from” contracting out at PoAL. This is an oft-spouted fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening. Contracting out would not reduce time or cost to move freight. It would just reduce the downtime the port pays for amounting to a simple transfer of wealth from wages to profits.
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, March 23rd, 2012 - 178 comments
The Port of Auckland’s refusal to let the stevedores return to work now that they have lifted their strike notice is a lock-out. There are specific legal requirements around strikes and lock-outs at ports and other essential services – notice must be given in writing and with 14 days’ notice. The Port’s lock-out is illegal. And it’s costing Auckland millions.
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 pm, March 22nd, 2012 - 13 comments
I wish to tender my resignation as Chair of the Ports of Auckland Board. I took a profitable and efficient Port and lost it millions of dollars in contracts. I spent, inappropriately, substantial amounts of money on a public relations campaign against our staff that could have been spent reinvesting in the port or returning to Auckland Council. The financial position of the Port is in a dire decline. We wish
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 22nd, 2012 - 167 comments
Despite the court making them return to the bargaining table, PoAL Chair Richard Pearson seems to fail to understand some basic principles of employment law.
His comments on morning report suggest he’s either ignorant of some basic legal issues or still has no regard for good faith bargaining.
I’d suggest that either case indicates there’s a need for the council to step in and put some responsible adults in charge of this company.
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, March 17th, 2012 - 97 comments
Ports of Auckland management may be starting to realise that they have bitten off more than they can chew. Faced with international union action, they have called a halt to the redundancy process.
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, March 15th, 2012 - 32 comments
It’s a bit rich that PoAL are claiming they’re “investigating” online privacy breaches now when it’s obvious they’ve been colluding with Cameron Slater for months.
It’s also interesting that the limited “no comment” comment PoAL has issued has been in Tony Gibson’s name rather than Richard Pearson’s.
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, March 14th, 2012 - 6 comments
Emergency Council Meetings, mediation, court action – the fight continues on a number of fronts. But at the core of the dispute is the SuperCity structure National set up – to give Council company boards free-rein, and democratically elected members no say.
Written By: - Date published: 6:51 am, March 14th, 2012 - 168 comments
Looks like Ports of Auckland have been unlawfully passing workers’ private information to Cameron Slater.
It’s just another example of the intimidation and thuggery the port management is becoming well known for.
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, March 12th, 2012 - 6 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
Scott has a Guest Post from Neemish von Tartt, the CEO of For the Sake of Our Cakes Trust
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, March 12th, 2012 - 69 comments
It turns out that the report that provided the basis for a 12% return on equity at the Ports of Auckland is based not on something commissioned by them. Instead it comes from the previous employers of the current chairman at PoA, who have previously been interested in buying ports in NZ. And the comparisons used for the ROE are spurious.
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, March 12th, 2012 - 47 comments
After months on the side-line, David Shearer and Len Brown have been forced to choose a side in the Ports of Auckland dispute by the irrational and unreasonable behaviour of the Ports management. Shearer has come out against casualisation and marched with the workers in Saturday. Brown has offered mediation between the parties.
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