Goods worth an estimated $300 million are held up by the Auckland port dispute which moved last night from a union strike to a company lockout of 327 workers.
Cranes and straddle carriers left idle on the Auckland waterfront contrasted with a fever of activity at the Metroport rail-head at Southdown, to which KiwiRail will send extra trains from today, carrying in-bound containers from ships diverted to Tauranga and Wellington.
Ports of Auckland says six ships are caught up in a four-day stoppage, which began at 10.30pm on Thursday with a 24-hour strike by the Maritime Union in pursuit of a new collective employment agreement.
That turned last night into a 48-hour lockout by the company, which will be followed by another 24-hour union strike from 10.30pm tomorrow night.
Four more days of strikes and lockouts are also threatened from late next week, although the union has refrained from issuing notice of a third round of industrial action, and both sides have agreed to resume talks before a mediator on Tuesday.
