Letter calling for resignation of CEO delivered

A letter calling for the resignation of Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson has been delivered to the port as pressure mounts on him to stand down over safety concerns at the site.

Multiple calls have been made for Gibson to resign in light of a scathing health and safety report released last month.

The report stated serious health and safety changes needed to be made following the deaths of three workers at the port in the past three years.

A Ports of Auckland spokesman has previously said Gibson would not be making any further comments on the safety report.

Former MP Tau Henare, former Labour Party campaign manager and union official Shane Te Pou, and First Union general secretary Robert Reid delivered the written statement just after 10am at the Ports of Auckland offices, in an exchange that took no longer than five minutes.

The letter calls on Ports of Auckland chairman Bill Osborne to ask Gibson to resign.

In a media stand-up prior to the meeting, Henare said the three were there to give Gibson and Osborne an opportunity ‘‘to do the right thing’’ which was ‘‘to stand down’’. ‘‘He [Gibson] is not fit for purpose,’’ said Henare.

He said: ‘‘Three people that have lost their lives. Two people have turned up for work one day and not returned home, let that sink in. The cheek of Gibson to say that he didn’t know what was going on, that is the reason he should go straight away – not because of the deaths, but because he didn’t know what was going on.

‘‘We’re going to get somebody in who has the wherewithal to put together a health and safety plan, not only for the ports of Auckland, but for the wha¯ nau as well.’’

Workers Laboom Midnight Dyer and Palaamo Kalati died as the result of incidents at the site, while swimmer Leslie Gelberger died after being struck by a pilot boat.

A review conducted after their deaths listed recommendations for Gibson to ensure similar incidents did not occur again.

It included recommendations to ‘‘prioritise safety over productivity and profitability’’, help to change ‘‘at risk behaviours’’, and communicate proactively to staff about safety, instead of reactively. Describing the report as ‘‘horrific’’, Reid said yesterday that it ‘‘really blew the whistle on what was happening at Ports of Auckland’’.

Reid said he wasn’t expecting the morning to play host to a big event, but he hoped it would be enough to put pressure on Gibson to resign ‘‘very soon’’. If the letter didn’t achieve the desired result, the three would ‘‘keep on going’’ and would organise other events and protests to ensure they ‘‘drive that message home,’’ he said.

‘‘He [Gibson] is not fit for purpose.’’

Tau Henare, above.