Wharf pickets will continue

The Waterfront Workers Union says it is still working to prepare a defence to Carter Holt Harvey and Mainland Stevedoring's damages claim against the union, but it will continue to picket at South Island ports.

A date has not yet been set for the hearing.

Union secretary Trevor Hansen said peaceful picketing would continue at four ports - Bluff, Port Chalmers, Lyttleton and Timaru.

It will also be discussing issues of casualisation with overseas unions - in the United States, Asia-Pacific and Britain - as part of a greater global campaign, Mr Hansen said.

The union had not yet decided if it would proceed with its own legal case testing some of its concerns about Mainland under the Employment Relations Act.

A spokesman for Labour Minister Margaret Wilson yesterday said the Government was not involved in the dispute and the matters were now up to the parties to solve between themselves.

Ms Wilson had earlier said she would consider calling a conference on port operations if mediation failed in the dispute.