employment relations – Page 4 – Maritime Union of New Zealand

Maritime Union joins rallies and digs deep in Telecom lines engineers dispute

August 24, 2009

The Maritime Union has upped its industrial and financial support of Telecom lines engineers in their employment dispute.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says a national meeting of Union representatives from ports and ships this morning voted an initial $10,000 to support Telecom lines engineers in their struggle for secure jobs.

Maritime Union members from New Zealand ships and the waterfront joined rallies in Auckland and Wellington this morning alongside the lines engineers and other supporters.

Port Otago workers reject company restructuring proposal

August 12, 2009

A combined union meeting at Port Otago today voted to reject new restructuring proposals from Port Otago management.

Around 200 union members attended a stopwork meeting at 1pm which halted work around the port and packed the Union hall in one of the largest meetings of recent years.

Threat of union action over port team plan

July 29, 2009

The Otago Daily Times reports on possible industrial action by the Maritime Union at Port of Otago here.

Fast food jobs shows National Government’s contempt for young workers

June 26, 2009

The Maritime Union says the National Government’s plan to act as a compulsory recruitment agency for McDonalds fast food chain is a travesty.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has described an agreement between WINZ and McDonalds that will provide up to 7000 unemployed workers for the fast-food chain’s growth plans over the next five years.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the scheme has two beneficiaries – a Government with a failing jobs policy, and a global corporation that will suck profits out of New Zealand.

Fisheries Minister throwing New Zealand jobs to the sharks

June 23, 2009

The Maritime Union has slammed comments by Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley about employment in New Zealand’s fishing industry, and say they make a bad joke out of the Government’s commitment to protect jobs.
Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says Mr Heatley has publicly admitted that New Zealand jobs are not a priority in the New Zealand fishing industry.

Maritime Union wants answers on Indonesian shipjumpers

March 14, 2009

The Maritime Union of New Zealand and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) are investigating a shipjumping incident in Dunedin where nine Indonesian seafarers left the fishing trawler Marinui on Friday 10 March.

ITF New Zealand co-ordinator Kathy Whelan says the Union has been in touch with the Ministry of Immigration about the case, and ITF representatives will try to speak to the fishermen at Auckland Airport before they are sent home tomorrow.

She says she is extremely concerned about the increasing numbers of foreign seafarers leaving their vessels in New Zealand ports, in this case claiming they were subjected to 24 hour shifts with no breaks, two hour sleep breaks, and physical abuse.

Labour employment relations policy deals with important issues

October 26, 2008

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has welcomed the release of the Labour Party’s policy for employment relations today.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says it is important that the policy has focussed on providing protections for workers in a time of global economic turmoil.

“The Maritime Union position is that we need to pay more attention to the job security and stability for workers, and this policy has taken these issues on board.”

A cashless Christmas for foreign fishing crews far from home

December 22, 2006

A second group of Ukrainian crew members aboard the arrested vessel Aleksandr Ksenofontov in Dunedin are at loggerheads with employers and have approached the Maritime Union seeking help.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the situation with the fishing vessel is a classic example of the problems still coming to the surface in the fishing industry.

Mr Hanson says around 14 senior crew members, believed to be officers, have approached the Dunedin police and the Maritime Union claiming their contract has been broken.