Trailblazing workplace agreement signals ‘big shift’ at Auckland’s port, hope for its future: union

Ports of Auckland is the country's main imports gateway. Photo / Michael Craig

“If you’d asked me three years ago if the Maritime Union and Ports of Auckland company would ever put out a joint statement, I’d have said not a show in hell.”

Local region secretary Russell Mayn still sounds amazed that his union and the council-owned company were able to share a page announcing an industry-first pay structure for stevedores - never mind reaching the agreement itself.

He said the agreement, an extension to 2024 of an existing collective agreement, gives stevedores more income certainty at a time the cost of living is hurting families and offers some reassurance at a time the port’s future is again up for debate. Importantly, it also marks a “big shift” in the relationship between port workers and new port leaders. Chief executive Roger Gray was appointed in March.

The agreement covers around 360 people, mainly stevedores on the port’s container terminal but also some roles in mechanical and engineering areas. The port employs more than 600 people directly, with around 180,000 jobs facilitated by its activities, according to its website.

The agreement provides for a move to a 40-hour salaried income which will provide pay stability, a new rostering system said to be a game-changer for work-life balance, and a pay increase in line with the consumer price index (CPI) but capped at 7 per cent.

The agreement extends to 2024 a collective settlement already achieved for 2022 and 2023.

The port company said the new structure meant stevedores would be paid a salary for 40 hours per week and then any additional hours worked would be paid at an hourly rate.

A company spokesperson told the Herald pay could vary significantly depending on shifts worked.

The union’s Mayn said under the previous agreement stevedores worked 160 hours over one month.

“A whole lot of answers came out of that. They could have to work 60 hours in the first week, 60 hours in the second, and then only get paid for 20 hours in the last two weeks (of the month).”

Because there was a “consistent” workload at the port it was common sense to agree on assurance of a minimum 40 hours work a week, he said.

“It also gives the port the ability to roster 48 hours in a week so they can say to customers they have the resources (to do the job).”

The port has pledged to in March bring back reliable berthing time windows for ships following two years of pandemic-driven delays and supply chain congestion. This has seen ships diverted to the Port of Tauranga or Northport near Whangarei or skip Auckland completely, as well as extra delays and costs for importers and exporters from congestion surcharges imposed at Auckland by shipping lines, and cargo having to be railed or driven back to Auckland.

Mayn said the agreement was the end result of a major “shift” at the port under a new board of directors, a focus on worker health and safety, and a change in management style.

“I’ve been involved in the union for 49 years and I cannot remember extending a collective agreement for two years.

“It was due to expire in December 2023. We had spent time and energy on the new rostering system. Then with all the instability with the talk of whether the port will be shut down or if it’s up for sale, and after the failed automation project which was a failure round everyone’s neck ... we thought it’s time for stability and a message to the council that the port is in good nick.”

Mayn said the message was that the port had the ability now to make good returns to its owner, Auckland Council.

On the 7 per cent cap in pay increases, Mayn said “it would take a brave person” to forecast where inflation will rise to, and settle at, in the next two years. The union had “to take a punt”.

“It could be 4 per cent, it could be 6 per cent. It’s possible the CPI could escalate dramatically beyond 7 per cent. But we considered also that the company has to be able to pass on a dividend to the council, which it has put at $52 million. And we don’t have a problem with (accepting) that.

”We think this is an asset that belongs to Auckland and that it’s good for all Aucklanders to own it.”

Mayn said under the new relationship the port was “a much better place to work, with better working conditions and a safer environment”.

“We are happy and we haven’t been able to say that for a long time.”

Ports of Auckland CEO, Roger Gray. Photo / Dean Purcell

The port company said work on the new rostering model and pay structure had been underway for months.

“After listening to our people, we knew that having a dependable income was important to them and we have looked to address that with this collective agreement,” a spokesperson said.

The new agreement does not cover stevedores handling the port’s vehicle import operation, which new mayor Wayne Brown wants to get rid of.

The spokesperson said that trade, a major income earner for the port, was managed by third-party stevedoring companies Wallace Investments and C3.

Auckland’s port has been in the headlines in recent years over serious worker health and safety problems, including fatalities, and concerns about its productivity and financial performance.

(The company’s decision after Roger Gray’s appointment to call time on a failed six-year-long venture to introduce automation at the container terminal heaped more public scorn on the beleaguered port, the country’s main imports gateway. The decision resulted in a $60 million write-off, but industry observers believe the eventual cost of the project’s failure will be much higher.)

The controversies resulted in former mayor Phil Goff pushing through a largely new board of directors, which in turn appointed Gray to succeed former chief executive Tony Gibson, who quit suddenly last year.

With container shipping processing improving this year and a commitment from directors to significantly lift the annual dividend to the city from this financial year, the port appeared to be turning a corner.

However, the election of Wayne Brown has rekindled debate over the future location of the port, a strategic piece of New Zealand supply chain infrastructure.

Brown, who headed a government-commissioned study which concluded in 2019 the port should be shifted to Northport, campaigned for the mayoralty on giving port land back to the public and forcing an improvement in its financial return to the council.