April 29, 2022
Ports need unions for safety clean up
A former trade unionist is blaming workforce casualisation for a spate of deaths on the waterfront.
On April 19, Atiroa Tuaiti fell to his death at the Auckland port, and six days later a man died during the loading of coal onto a ship in Lyttelton.
Shane Te Pou says port companies have encouraged workforce casualisation and the use of subcontracting companies as a way to weaken union power.
The result is a loss of skilled labour, long work hours and rates of injuries and death higher than in comparable industries like construction.
“The facts speak for themselves. We have a record number of men who have gone to mahi and not come home. Collective bargaining is the way, but because not only do they negotiate salaries, wages, terms and conditions, they ensure proper health and safety practices are part of the contract, which is a legally binding document,” Mr Te Pou says.
He hopes the new history curriculum in schools will teach children about this country’s industrial history, including the 1951 Waterfront Lockout and the attacks on worker power through the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and 90s.