The Million Dollar Man

Reproduced with permission from Rod Emmerson and New Zealand Herald

The situation at the Ports of Auckland should be the catalyst for change not only at Ports across New Zealand but across all companies in New Zealand.

The death of two stevedores La Boom Dyer and Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati at POAL was tragic for the families and for their workmates. To date, I have not seen the Board or the CEO in charge at the time of the deaths take responsibility.

The Chairperson at the time Liz Coutts was awarded Chairperson of the year and said she was “proud of what the company had achieved in her time on the Board.” The next day POAL were convicted on health and safety charges in the Auckland Court and fined half a million dollars.

When questioned over Health and Safety failures, former CEO Tony Gibson responded he was not made aware of Health and Safety issues at the Port, and he did not know.

The Board has Governance responsibilities to monitor Health and Safety and the CEO has the same responsibilities, especially in a company where there have been ongoing issues.

Following the two deaths an independent review of Health and Safety was undertaken by CHASNZ on behalf of Auckland City who are the owners of POAL.

The CHASNZ report was damning and uncovered systemic failures in Health and Safety. The Maritime Union of New Zealand has been extremely vocal on issues such as changes to rosters, hours of work, fatigue and bonuses for speed, from the time when they were introduced by former CEO Tony Gibson.

The introduction of these changes to work practices were forced on workers through the threat of redundancies and the use of lockouts, and a bitter struggle between management and our Union that took place a decade ago.

MUNZ members were only able to return to their jobs after a Court decision backed our Union’s case. MUNZ engaged Health and Safety experts from New Zealand and Australia. All of these experts warned the Port Company they were heading down a path where workers would be harmed and that the chances of a fatality at the Port were high.

These warnings were ignored by the Board and Management, the health and safety experts were belittled, and the march to increase productivity and profits rolled on. All of this was at the expense of workers – especially if you were brave enough to join our Union and fight for better and safer working conditions. Following the changes to rosters and hours of work, an announcement was made that the Port would be automated. The favoured spin was the Port was too small to handle increased volumes of containers, and to service future demand, the container stacking areas would have to increase to a four high stacking capability.

The claim was automation was the only way this could be done. But there are numerous alternatives to automation, such as manual four high straddles or stacking cranes. Ask any stevedore in New Zealand and they would have given you the answers, no need for consultants here.

MUNZ invited experts from the ITF Automation Committee to visit, who were astounded such a small operation as POAL would consider automation. One committee member asked “Are they mad?” Over six years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent and automation is still not running, the box rate at the Port is dismal and no one has been held to account.

The final straw for Union members at the Port was the massive pay out for CEO Tony Gibson who was collecting over $700,000 a year in salary anyway. Secrecy surrounds how a million dollar golden parachute was passed at Board level but the Chair Mr Osborne announced his retirement after the pay out was approved. The owners the Auckland City Council were unaware of the pay out to Mr Gibson, and have registered their disapproval and disagreement with it.

The dividend returned to the Council is marginal compared to pre-automation. The ex-CEO and POAL have been charged by Maritime New Zealand in relation to the death of Pala’amo Kalati.

There is no doubt there is one rule for some and a totally different set of rules for others. As one wag in the messroom said if I smash up a few straddles, drop the ball and resign do you think I am in line for a couple of million? Remuneration for upper management is out of control. We need to start having realistic packages and the Board should be made to answer how it allowed this pay out to happen – secrecy is not an option.

Good news following the CHASNZ review and a change of top management is the Health and Safety culture at the Port has taken a positive turn. There is still plenty of work to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

MUNZ calls for the resignation of all Board members who let this happen on their watch. Going forward we need worker representation on the Board. We require the introduction of safe and healthy shift rosters and a robust Health and Safety Policy. An enforceable “Code of Practice” that binds all Ports and employers is needed before another worker pays the ultimate price.

MUNZ and RMTU women in unity: from left, MUNZ National Women’s Rep Fiona Mansell, RMTU National Management Committee Women’s Rep Rebecca Hauck, Annie McCauley MUNZ Lyttelton Local 43

RMTU Women’s Forum 24 June 2021

By Annie McCauley 6092

It all started back in 2019 when we were lucky enough to attend the CTU Biannual Women’s Conference in Wellington and network with our Union sisters, especially our RMTU sisters. Let’s just say great friendships were made.

Fast forward to present day when I recently had one of our RMTU Sisters reach out and extend an invite to attend the RMTU Women’s Forum and to work with them to build bridges between our two Unions.

What can I say? I felt very privileged to have even been thought of, let alone invited, so immediately said yes. Unfortunately, due to work commitments a few of my other comrades could not make it but both MUNZ National Women’s Rep Fiona Mansell and I went. I was not disappointed. What a brilliant day despite a few COVID obstacles to overcome! As of those who know me well, know that I am very big on networking and camaraderie and I truly believe that we are better off to work together when it comes to our two Unions, the RMTU and MUNZ.

There is no denying that our two Unions have a sometimes rocky and colourful past, but in my eyes that is the past. As Fiona summed up in her speech you never forget your past, or where you came from, but it is up to us, whether we decided to learn and grow from it, and change for the better.

This also resonates from a speaker we had back at the MUA Conference last year in March when he asked the 500 member plus strong Delegation who asked “What side of History do you choose to be on?”

I am not alone in aiming to think positive and to rebuild the rapport between our Unions. I agreed with RMTU Women’s Rep Rebecca Hauck and her statement that “this relationship is just the start of something fabulous.”

At the forum we were able to partake in a lot of networking and various discussions. One good conversation in particular was Karen Fletcher’s group session on menopause.

This was a somewhat awkward conversation, however it was extremely educational. It was interesting to learn of the restrictions that this event can create within the workplace and how basic needs are not always met by the employer. It was also very interesting to hear from the young women that were in the room.

Overall, it was a very productive day and I can not thank Rebecca Hauck and our RMTU sisters enough for the invitation. I hope MUNZ Women can follow your lead and have our own MUNZ Women’s Forum.

I am very excited and inspired for what our futures hold for the Women’s Movement within our respective Unions whilst also working alongside each other in Unity. Here’s to being on the right side of making History!

munz Online www.munz.org.nz

Milestone of Fifty Years on the Wharf

By Russell Mayn Auckland Branch Secretary

Robert Powley, Stevedore at the Ports Auckland Container Terminal, celebrated fifty years on the wharf this year.

A breakfast function for Rob was held at the Ports of Auckland Container Terminal to acknowledge Rob’s feat of fifty years under the hook.

Union members performed a Haka and several speeches followed with the presentation of a lashing bar gift made at the Engineering workshops.

Rob is one of the very few remaining who were employed at the Waterfront Bureau where he used to sling his disk. Work was very different – hand barrows, butter and meat vessels where ship holds were loaded manually.

Rob thanked his workmates and the union for fifty years of camaraderie. Many Wharfies around New Zealand would know Rob as a highly qualified First Aider and St Johns Ambulance Officer.

Maritime Union National Secretary Craig Harrison presented Rob with a certificate acknowledging his milestone of fifty years. All members of the Maritime Union of New Zealand are now covered by a $1,500 Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefit. This is an automatic membership benefit and is provided FREE by AIL Insurance.

In addition to this benefit, we are also offering members an additional $10,000 Accident Death Benefit, which costs just $2 for the first year (members may renew annually for just $5 thereafter.) You can continue this benefit into retirement or if you move to a different industry.

To take advantage of this offer, please enrol online at www.ailnz.co.nz/request , or call (09) 973 5254 to register your details.

You and your family may qualify for additional insurance benefits offered at this time. AIL is rated A (Excellent) for overall Financial Strength (as of 7/20, AM Best) and their programmes are offered to help our members. AIL can provide:

• Permanent Life cover for your whole family • Accident injury coverage (including sports injuries) • Cancer protection • Critical illness cover

All cover is on/off work, international, no occupational ratings, and benefits are paid in addition to ACC or other private schemes.

You are under No Obligation at all. If you have any questions about these benefits, please call AIL on (09) 973 5254 or email: info@ailnz.co.nz .

A Disclosure Statement is available at https://www.ailnz.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ AIL-NZ-Website-Disclosure.pdf

Helen Kelly: Her life Rebecca Macfie (Awa Press)

Helen Kelly died five years ago. She was the most high profile union leader of her generation in New Zealand. Her death from cancer at a relatively young age was an obvious tragedy for family and friends, but also deprived New Zealand workers of a powerful advocate at a time of struggle to halt reversals and decline. If anything, that is the core of this book – a story of personal struggle in difficult times.

Biographer Rebecca Macfie was a good choice to tell the story. As an experienced and respected journalist who previously wrote a stunning book on the Pike River disaster, she focuses on the public life of her subject. This is fitting, as Helen Kelly’s life was largely a public one, but the importance of her family background is not neglected.

Her father Pat Kelly was a high profile immigrant, a militant union leader who had gravitated towards the Communist Party. These were all qualities that ran against the grain of a small and conservative society. Her mother Cath came from the well-known Eichelbaum family, educated, cultured and with an unusual (for New Zealand) European and Jewish heritage. She shared Pat’s beliefs. They were part of a small but vibrant radical circle in Wellington – one close family friend was Dave Morgan. This environment moulded the young woman who was already well aware of the social and political issues of the day as a teenager. Describing this is one strong aspect of the book.

The 1970s and early 1980s saw a lot of industrial action in New Zealand and elsewhere. The left wing of the Union movement and the conservative Government of Rob Muldoon clashed. Events such as the Trades Hall bombing (and the death of caretaker Ernie Abbott) saw anti-union violence come to New Zealand, and the 1981 tour and anti-nuclear movement displayed bitter divisions in New Zealand society. Helen trained as a kindergarten teacher but was soon involved in union activity and started work for the Early Childhood Workers Union. She briefly visited Moscow for a short journalism course at the time when the Soviet Union was collapsing. At the same time, back in New Zealand, the Fourth Labour Government was on its last legs, torn apart by the ideological war of Rogernomics. The new National Government elected in 1990 continued and extended the free market, right wing policies of Rogernomics. Unemployment was at crisis levels and a fire sale of public assets saw a transfer of wealth and power to an aggressive capitalist class. The labour movement was split both politically (Labour and Alliance) and industrially (CTU and TUF).

The Employment Contracts Act of 1991 was the centrepiece of this war on workers. It wrote unions out of legislation in a blatant attempt to destroy organized labour. The plan did not succeed, but for a time it seemed it might. Unions without strong active membership disappeared overnight. Even militant blue collar unions struggled to stay afloat. Thirty years later, the union movement is still here, but its power and role in society has been diminished. Blue collar unions such as MUNZ are the exception: most unions now represent professional workers in the public sector. A large part of Helen Kelly’s life work was about trying to rebuild and revitalize unions in industries where they had been decimated.

It was in this chaotic environment that she started her career, advancing through various jobs in public sector and educational unions as well as studying law. The situation changed in 1999, with the election of a Labour–Alliance Government. Its initial reforming zeal was quickly cracked by an orchestrated campaign by business interests, and the Employment Relations Act reduced the pressure on Unions but certainly didn’t lead to a resurgence in numbers. Union membership remained low overall, but especially in blue collar private sector industries where many workers were exposed to dangerous conditions and poor wages.

In 2007, Helen Kelly was elected as CTU President, after giving serious consideration to standing for Parliament. The election of the John Key led National Government in 2008 meant unions were on the outside once again.

It is this part of the book which gives a sense of the multiple fronts on which Helen Kelly, and the union movement, were fighting on. In 2010, there was a major employment dispute around the rights of movie workers on the Hobbit where she faced personalized attacks. The explosion at the Pike River Mine in 2010 was the worst industrial disaster in modern New Zealand history, and exposed the weakness of health and safety laws.

She was heavily involved in a drawn out dispute between Talleys and the Meat Workers Union, and a battle to gain protection for workers in forestry and agriculture. Helen Kelly front footed many of these campaigns and fought hard to show how they had roots in the way the New Zealand economy had been set up to exploit and disempower the working class. She also attempted to change the organizing model for New Zealand unions (with limited success).

One of the most testing disputes she was involved in was the 2011 and 2012 Ports of Auckland dispute. She had previously supported MUNZ in the Port of Napier dispute in 2007, and was well aware of the issues in the industry. The POAL campaign ramped up and after lockouts and a major campaign, the Employment Court ordered the company to halt the sacking of workers and trying to replace them with contractors. It was to take several years to finally get a new Collective Agreement, and the cost had been substantial to MUNZ. But the employers plan to deunionize the Auckland waterfront had failed.

In 2015, Helen was diagnosed with cancer. In between treatments she travelled widely and kept up a heavy workload. She received an experimental treatment in Cuba and campaigned for cannabis law reform, using the drug to manage her symptoms. In October 2016, she died in Wellington. Helen Kelly was a strong woman as anyone who had anything to do with her would acknowledge. She was intellectually formidable but there was a strongly emotional aspect to her leadership, which of course was what gave her the motivation and commitment that she displayed right up until her death. Sometimes her confidence could seem overbearing. I recall being given a couple of zingers from her due to my political disagreements with the ‘official line.’

One personal memory that stands out was when she visited Port Chalmers while in Dunedin on union business, and came out to speak to members at Port Otago, since she was in the neighbourhood. She walked around the corner with a grin and a wave – larger than life, full of energy, and happy to be with a group of workers whose values she shared to the last. Many MUNZ members will have their own memories of someone whose life was so intertwined with the organized working class of New Zealand.

This biography is a fitting testament to her work and integrity. It provides an even handed account of a full, committed life, and is sympathetic without becoming sentimental. It is also the story of the union movement over the last generation.

– Victor Billot