March 12, 2026

Maritime Union of New Zealand

Representing New Zealand maritime workers since 2002

free trade

A cashless Christmas for foreign fishing crews far from home

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.

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New Zealand should follow Aussie lead on job protection

The Maritime Union says the New South Wales State Government could teach John Key one or two things about protecting jobs.

Nearly $4 billion worth of NSW government goods and services including uniforms, cars and even trains, will have to be sourced from Australian companies in order to boost local production and jobs, in an upcoming budget annoucement that has been welcomed by Australian unions.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Trevor Hanson says this idea should be adopted immediately in New Zealand.

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Free trade dairy debacle with USA was inevitable

Reproduced with thanks to Mike Moreu

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says the collapse of free trade in dairy products going into the United States was predictable and inevitable.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says New Zealand has been naive in allowing free trade ideology to replace common sense and had been “led by the nose” by a self-interested sector of business in New Zealand who put their own interests first.

He says that nations such as the United States would support free trade as long as it served their interests, then would abandon it when it no longer suited them, which is what had now happened.

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Temporary workers plan a recipe for disaster

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has attacked plans by employers to bring in migrant labour into the seafood industry after mass layoffs in the same sector.

A week after Sealord confirmed it would axe 323 jobs from its Nelson mussel factory, two South Island seafood companies Talleys and Aotearoa Seafood have applied to import 100 migrant labourers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says that the use of temporary labour being imported from overseas threatens local employment.

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Maritime Union criticizes Myanmar connection in free trade deal

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says a free trade deal signed with ASEAN nations including the military dictatorship of Myanmar is bad for workers.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says a free trade deal including Myanmar will boost the violently anti-worker regime in Myanmar and threatened workers rights.

He says the Maritime Union has many concerns about the treatment of Burmese maritime workers, some of whom work in New Zealand waters, and who have been mistreated and abused in the past.

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Maritime Union puts forward 2008 election goals

The Maritime Union has announced its priorities for the 2008 election.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the Union wants to see the return of a Labour-led Government to continue what he describes as incremental but positive moves to develop the maritime and transport industries.

Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union is strongly endorsing the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) election policy document, especially regarding key issues such as wages, employment relations, health and safety, ACC, and transport.

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Concerns with port takeover threat

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has warned against the takeover of New Zealand ports after shipping giant COSCO announced its interest in buying into New Zealand ports this week.

The Chinese state owned multinational corporation COSCO is one of the world’s largest shipping lines.

Maritime Union spokesperson Victor Billot says the Union is opposed to handing control of ports over to global operators.

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