Talks between port and wharfies due next week

Mediation between Ports of Auckland and striking wharfies will begin next week, after workers walked off the job in Auckland again today as part of their ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

The workers from the Maritime Union of New Zealand Local 13 (MUNZ) want a 4.5 to 4.9 per cent pay rise and the company has offered around 3.25 per cent.

It was the third time the 250 workers had struck.

They walked off for two days at the beginning of the month followed by a three-hour stoppage last week and a similar stoppage today. Another is planned for Labour Day next Monday.

This afternoon Ports of Auckland's managing director Jens Madsen said the Employment Relations Authority had announced it would proceed with the company's request for facilitated bargaining with the union.

Two facilitated meetings between the two factions are scheduled for October 23 and 26.

Mr Madsen said he was hopeful the "uncommon step" of seeking assistance from the ERA would result in a fair and reasonable conclusion as soon as possible.

Ports of Auckland applied to the ERA on October 8 in an effort to resolve the impasse over stalled negotiations with MUNZ.

The application came after many months of negotiations and five strike notices issued to the Port Company by MUNZ over a month.

"We have responded to MUNZ's claims and offered settlements that we believe are fair and reasonable; where our colleagues will share in the upside of an even more productive business.

"We are concerned that we have been unable to reach a conclusion, so while this is an uncommon step, it is a necessary one."

- NZPA