Union member workers at Port Otago are calling for better fatigue management and more pay in light of the company’s recent annual results.
Represented by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), workers say they are frustrated.
News that the chief executive Kevin Winders had received a $100,000 pay increase taking his remuneration to between $610,000-620,000, is like a “kick in the guts”, the unions says.
“We’re in the middle of negotiations for a port wide collective agreement that covers cargo handlers, marine, maintenance and security staff and this news highlights the wages inequality gap between the rich and those struggling to make ends meet,” unions spokesperson John Kerr says.
“Any success that Port Otago has enjoyed in the past year is ultimately down to rank and file port workers working around the clock in all weathers loading and unloading the freight on shipping so as to grow the Otago economy and meet customer needs.
“Port Otago are currently offering our members a mean spirited 2% increase over 12 months which is in stark contrast to yesterday’s disclosure of the port company’s generosity to its chief executive of a $100,000 payrise and has simply inflamed the situation,” Kerr says.
Union members have started an indefinite overtime ban “to try and focus management and the board’s minds on achieving a solution”.
“The key issues between us remain fatigue management and remuneration and despite three mediated negotiation meetings in the past two weeks we’ve made very little progress.”
Kerr says news of the chief executive’s pay rise has “hardened the resolve” of its members.
“We don’t see this dispute ending anytime soon unless the dollars are shared amongst the all and not just the management class,” he says.
