Latvian and Estonian Dockers Support Port Workers from port of Auckland!
Thousan ds join Aucklan d port workers rally
10 March 2012
Thousan ds of people turned out to a rally in support of Aucklan d workers sacked by port man agement.
Dockers from across the region joined the march in New Zealan d on Saturday afternoon to show solidarity with members of the ITF- affiliated Maritime Union of New Zealan d (MUNZ). Others worldwide sent messages of support to workers involved in the long running dispute with Ports of Aucklan d Limited (POAL) which came to a head this week when POAL gave notice to the union that 300 wharfies would be made redundan t an d their stevedoring work contracted out.
In addition to the support of fellow port workers, the Aucklan d wharfies rally also attracted students, teachers, firefighters an d ITF unions from across the supply chain.
ITF dockers’ section secretary Fran k Leys sent a message of solidarity to the rally highlighting the worldwide support for Aucklan d workers fighting to secure their jobs. He said: “This is a blatan t attempt at union busting an d that’s something that the international trade union community just won’t stan d for. And, from the turnout at this rally it’s clear it’s not just unions who think POALs treatment of Aucklan d workers is wrong. Workers from other industries agree that action must be taken to stop big business profiting at the expense of ordinary people who are just trying to make a living.”
Beyond the rally, international solidarity continues with messages of support flooding in to MUNZ. Resolutions of support have been signed at a number of global meetings an d a protest was organ ised at Sydney Ports to coincide with the Aucklan d rally.
For more on this dispute an d to show your support for Aucklan d wharfies visit the dedicated solidarity page >> http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/solidarity-3502.cfm
Search Aucklan d port rally on twitter to see pictures an d comments.
Rally tomorrow for Aucklan d dockers
9 March 2012
Wharfies (dockers), their families an d supporters will rally in Aucklan d tomorrow to defend jobs at the city’s port. The event has been called after news this week that the port’s man agement is going to try an d make 320 workers redundan t.
ITF dockers’ section secretary Fran k Leys will be among those speaking, an d will pledge the organ isation’s support for the endan gered workers.
He will tell them that all they have asked for is a fair deal an d in return they have received “privatisation, casualisation an d job insecurity from a man agement that has shied away from good faith negotiation an d instead embraced confrontation with its own workforce”.
He will continue: “This dispute is a major turning point for trade union relations in New Zealan d just like Liverpool in the UK, Patrick’s in Australia an d Ports Package 1 an d 2 for Europe. We are stan ding on the edge of a chan ge which would mean disaster for future generations of workers. Employment with no security, no benefits an d no rights to trade union protection. We can ’t let that chan ge happen.”
He will go on to promise that “400,000 dockers wan t the workers of Aucklan d to know they are not alone in this fight. They will not stan d idle when their brothers an d sisters are under siege. They are protesting in their ports, they are contacting their New Zealan d embassies, they are letting the world know that this fight is far from over an d when you take on dockers at the Ports of Aucklan d you take on dockers all over the world. We stan d by your side in this dispute an d your call for a fair deal will not be silenced.”
Earlier this week ITF president an d dockers’ section chair Paddy Crumlin declared that man agements’ actions had now made Aucklan d ‘a port of convenience’. This, he explained, “can have real consequences in how dockers worldwide react to these cargoes. And it can have consequences among seafarers, among shipping compan ies looking for ports where they will find efficient an d co-operative loading an d unloading, an d potentially even among customers of New Zealan d goods”.
For more details of the rally see http://www.saveourport.com/ . For more about the international support for Aucklan d’s wharfies see
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