Maritime Union wants total control

Stuff reports:

A fully loaded 14,000-tonne cargo ship remains in limbo at Wellington’s wharf as industrial action at the Port of Auckland spreads across the country.

Unionised cargo workers at the capital’s port declined to handle the Maersk Aberdeen when it came into port on Friday because it had been worked on by non-unionised workers in Auckland.

The ship has been “blacked” by Wellington wharfies, with Maritime Union members picketing the port during the weekend.

Yesterday, CentrePort announced it would seek a court injunction to force the workers to handle the ship. The hearing will take place today.

It is important that people realise that the Maritime Union wants to control all Ports in New Zealand. Their resorting to clearly illegal strikes reflects this. If employees choose not to join a union, they should be able to do so without intimidation. However the Maritime Union tries to use its power to blacklist any port which has non union labour. They do not believe employees should have a choice. They want de facto compulsory membership.