Union rejects port’s collective-agreement worries

A union leader has taken Port of Tauranga’s chief executive, Mark Cairns, to task over comments that multi-employer collective agreements threaten productivity.

Cairns, who received a $1.6 million salary package this year, was announcing a record profit, and used the occasion to warn against industrial law changes preventing employers from opting out of multi-employer agreements.

‘‘Specifically, we believe the repeal of the ability for employers to opt out of multi-employer collective agreement negotiations breaches international conventions,’’ Cairns said.

But Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Joe Fleetwood said the comments were scaremongering and indicated a lack of understanding about the nature of collective agreements.

Fleetwood said collective agreements didn’t mean everyone at all ports would be paid the same, but there were advantages to having single umbrella agreements rather than multiple agreements.

Even from an employer perspective there were advantages in dealing with a smaller group to reduce disputes.

The recent example of the Lyttelton Port dispute arose from different treatment of two groups of workers, Fleetwood said

Meanwhile, Cairns said Port of Tauranga has made a submission opposing aspects of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill.

The company was proud of its industrial relations track record, and more than 90 per cent of staff were shareholders, Cairns said.

It has reported a profit after tax of $94.3m, a rise of 13 per cent, driven by more containers and logs, meat, apples, cement, oil and dairy produce. Total revenue was up 10.9 per cent to $283m for the year ended June.

As a result, shareholders will be rewarded with a special 5 cents a share dividend on top of the total ordinary dividend of 12.7c a share for the year, up 13.4 per cent on the previous year.

The port handles 40 per cent of all containers in New Zealand.