Fonterra claims by Ports of Auckland wrong

The Maritime Union says that claims by Ports of Auckland management that Fonterra is pulling out of the port in favour of Port of Tauranga and Port of Napier due to recent industrial disruption are incorrect.

Port of Napier management have stated in the national media they have been working with Fonterra and others for two years on the current moves.

Maritime Union National President Garry Parsloe says for a second time, claims by Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson about loss of work at the port had now been contradicted.

In the latest instance, Mr Parsloe says that a Radio New Zealand interview with a Port of Napier manager earlier this week confirmed the Union viewpoint that shippers and port customers moved ports for a variety of reasons.

Radio New Zealand reported on Thursday that Port of Napier services manager Bruce Lochhead says it began negotiating a deal with Fonterra well before the legal industrial dispute in Auckland.

Mr Lochhead told Radio New Zealand the Port of Napier had been working for a couple of years with Fonterra and other organizations including KiwiRail and the shipping lines carrying Fonterra products out of New Zealand to ensure "an increased share of their business with some success, some good success, over the past couple of years."

Mr Parsloe says there are growing questions about the credibility of statements by Ports of Auckland management speaking on behalf of shipping lines and their customers.

"It may be they want to try and portray their workforce as the sole reason they are having problems. But at the end of the day all we want is for the employer to come back and negotiate in good faith."

Mr Parsloe pointed out that Fonterra pulling out of a port was not a new phenomenon in the New Zealand transport industry.

"The Maritime Union was concerned when Fonterra pulled out most of its shipping from the port of Timaru and the port of New Plymouth in 2009. This caused tremendous harm and disruption to these ports and the local communities that was widely reported at the time by the Maritime Union, and this was absolutely nothing to do with industrial relations. It's like there is some kind of amnesia out there."

Mr Parsloe says shipping companies and market dominant companies have always operated in their own interests and manipulated ports to suit their own agendas.

"It's been like that for as long as I can remember."

ENDS

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