Scene set for legal face-off

After two months of mediation, Carter Holt turns to the courts as the waterfront union makes a final offer. PAULA OLIVER reports.

A last-ditch attempt will be made today to resolve the long-running Carter Holt Harvey ports dispute, despite the forestry giant yesterday seeking a High Court injunction against protesters disrupting the loading of its logs on to ships.

Mediator Walter Grills, who has guided the parties through two months of talks, said he would take the Waterfront Workers Union's final compromise offer to Carter Holt bosses today.

If it was not accepted, a report would go to the Government detailing the failure of the mediation.

The bitter four-month industrial dispute centres on Carter Holt's use of out-of-town Mainland Stevedoring labour to load logs onto its ships in the South Island.

The union claimed that the practice casualised work previously done by permanent employees and undermined safety standards.

Talks between the parties blew wide open this week when Carter Holt said it would take no further part in mediation. It referred to a leaked draft report from Mr Grills which said none of the union's claims had any substance.

Despite that, the same report suggested a compromise deal, which upset some employers but which Carter Holt and Mainland had agreed to honour. The union said the compromise did not go far enough.

Carter Holt Harvey chief operating officer Jay Goodenbour told the Business Herald yesterday that his company had made its final offer and saw no sense in further mediation.

"We have scheduled a meeting with Mr Grills at his request, out of courtesy," Mr Goodenbour said. "We've gone as far as we were ever going to go, at any point, and they've given us no response. We're just going to go the legal route - which is basically protect our rights through what we have available to us legally."

That strategy took shape in the High Court at Wellington yesterday, when Mainland and Carter Holt filed papers seeking an injunction against interference with loading of its ships.

Union protests have continued throughout the mediation process, sometimes becoming violent.

The police scaled down their presence at port protests in Nelson about three weeks ago, when Tasman District Commander Grant O'Fee said his officers would not be at the port for each and every ship's arrival and departure. Instead, officers would respond if called, or needed.

The union's national secretary, Trevor Hanson, said yesterday that the next protest was planned for May 5, when a Carter Holt ship would be in Bluff for loading.

A spokeswoman for the Southland police district said the protest would be treated with a standard police response, but what shape that would take would not be known until talks had been held with the union.

Mr Hanson said he still hoped for a solution from mediation.

"The reality is that we're really waiting for the final report from Mr Grills - we've made submissions to the draft," he said.

Mr Grills said the final report would be in ministerial hands this weekend.

He said Carter Holt had gone the extra mile to get the dispute resolved, and mediation had made progress. The dispute was close to being resolved, he said.

If Carter Holt executives do not agree to the offer Mr Grills tables today, the dispute could be headed for an industry conference.

Labour Minister Margaret Wilson floated the idea in February, but her office said yesterday that it was too early to say if it would be pursued.

Ms Wilson would wait for the mediator's final report. Alternatively, parties could put issues to the Employment Relations Authority.