Hide on POAL and unions
September 16th, 2012 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarRodney Hide writes in HoS:
I later worked as a fitter’s mate in British construction. My workmates would lie, cheat, steal and engage in industrial sabotage. The crew I was part of stole an entire Landrover. That was no mean feat: we were on an island in the North Sea.
We were building a gas stripping plant at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands.
I regularly saw metal scraps tossed into one-metre gas pipes as they were welded up. That was to ensure maintenance work once construction was finished.Both Lyttelton Port and Sullom Voe were union-controlled. The control was maintained through bullying and violence. I was threatened that a spanner could fall on my head; an English welder had both legs and both arms broken for not following union dictates.
The way I saw it, the bosses got us to do what they wanted by paying us. That suited me. But union bosses got us to do what they wanted through thuggery and violence. I didn’t like it. And I didn’t like them.
This is referred to as the “good old days” amongst the union leaders.
Auckland has a beating heart. It’s the port. And it’s in trouble.
It lost Maersk’s Southern Star services to the Port of Tauranga last December. Fonterra followed in January. That’s $25 million in revenue gone. That’s 15 per cent of the port’s total revenue.
Ten years ago, Auckland handled double the containers that Tauranga did. Now they’re on par. Tauranga is set to pass Auckland.
Tauranga has the flexibility and efficiency that Auckland lacks.
Auckland Port’s dividend to Auckland Council is $20 million. A proper roster would double it. That’s equivalent to a 1.5 per cent rate cut. But the real gain would be to Auckland businesses, jobs and wages. …
The Maritime Union have proved the port bosses’ point through the negotiations several times over. They have gone on strike 12 times. And the port says productivity went up. Every time.
Tauranga is a shining example of a mixed ownership model. The staff are shareholders and are happy. They take pride in completing jobs efficiently.
Related posts:
- Jackson calls on union to be more violent and intimidatory
- Auckland loses out
- Hosking on POAL
- The national interest in making the ports more efficient
September 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Yep and no small pride in booting POA arse.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
No wonder Rodney was hounded out of Parliament. Rodney should be in John Key’s cabinet.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Yup – certainly this shareholder is happy…
When MUNZ first suggested they would strike if they didn’t get their own way, I was given some good advice – “buy more shares in the Port of Tauranga”. And I did.
And in case anyone wants a reminder what happened to the PoT share price this past year, then read this link:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1208/S01085/port-of-tauranga-announces-record-profit-highlights.htm
So, thank you MUNZ – Do keep up the good work.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
The labour party practices thuggery to get caucus unity though not in a physical way. But they are full of bullies who impose their views on others. The Port is NOT the beating heart of Auckland. It is a noisy eyesore and one positive outcome of this dispute would be to have this eyesore removed from the beautiful harbour.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
We need to do what is in the best interests of the ratepayers who are the shareholders, it appears everyone is acting irresponsibly in this fiasco and guess who is picking up the tab.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Rodney seems to be overlooking the Court rulings against POA. He probably forgot.
Nice touch – the I worked with the bad guys but I didn’t like it. Reminds of I worked with people who took perks but I held them accountable.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
@ nostalgia – as McCarten notes this morning, the MUNZ collective agreement ceases to have effect from 30 September. POAL has been playing the long game, an once the collective contract rollover expires, they can configure their workforce as they wish. Not before time IMHO.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Yes I read that KeepingStock. Looks like there may have been an intention of a ‘long game’ although by the mistakes made by POA throughout this affair I suspect it would have been an afterthought. Whether that intention was fair and in good faith could need to be verified through the Courts. Do you suppose delaying a decision, prevaricating on one, to suit one party’s ends wouldn’t need to be tested when there is so much at stake, not just for MUNZ but for ratepayers and customers who got the short end of the stick last time?
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
My workmates would lie ,cheat and steal and then I left parliament.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
It’s good that the port trade gets distributed to other regions. Auckland can’t handle it. Auckland is a shining example of how the competitive model between incompetent councils has failed. Councils should do the rubbish and water and central government do the strategic planning for the benefit of all nz industry.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Love my Port of Tauranga shares. – keep it up Ports of Auckland.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
As Chinese drop the buying of non value added logs from Tauranga things will swing back to POA,the travel costs and damage to roading from trucks will also begin to balance up as well.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
“This is referred to as the “good old days” amongst the union leaders.”
Snore… Evidence please? no, didn’t think so…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Gosh, what awful people these union chappies sound like, if Rodney’s experience is anything to go by. Fortunately, unlike unionists, employers are such paragons of virtue that nobody Rodney’s age has any hair-raising stories about them at all.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Yes PM, but employees can choose another employer. The way the law is written it is hard for an employer to choose another union.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Unions are an unnessary blight on all of humanity,they are lying cheating nasty scum.Thats why most workers will have nothing to do with them.The going on in POA is a disgrace ,these thugs give not a damn about anyone but their own selfish gains at the expense of the rest of the productive workforce.Funny thing is I own a classic car built in England in the 70s,a friend recently asked me was its so badly built,I told him it was the unions that didnt give a shit but i get great satisfaction in knowing that they are all now out of work as they killed the industry,fools and idiots.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Stories of Union thug violence against their own for non compliance and working too hard are legion….
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Yes, they are dinosaurs, organisations that have outlived their use-by date. In NZ most of them are on the wane, which can only be good for our country.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
MH (102) Says:
September 16th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
As Chinese drop the buying of non value added logs from Tauranga things will swing back to POA,the travel costs and damage to roading from trucks will also begin to balance up as well.
——————————————————
Been there and done that but guess what, it comes back and currently there are few forests that can supply the timber the Chinese require.
As for the roads, well we have a perfectly good railway from Tga to Auckland. Getting some of the Auck taxpayers money spent on it as well.
As for the Fonterra jobby, well the Aucks stole it from us at an uneconomical price anyway so eventually things returned home as these things do.
Stuopid CEO they had thought he would make a killing for himself. Fail.
Any more trouble at POL will leave us unable to build wharehouses fast enough. Been like that since the last time.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Manolo (7,432) Says:
September 16th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Gosh, what awful people these union chappies sound like, if Rodney’s experience is anything to go by.
Yes, they are dinosaurs, organisations that have outlived their use-by date. In NZ most of them are on the wane, which can only be good for our country.
Manolo, they would be gone if cousin Kate had any balls or indeed any idea at all what unions are. Perhaps she thinks they will donate to her reelction campaign.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
“Fortunately, unlike unionists, employers are such paragons of virtue”
Comparatively speaking, yes they are.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
oh Dear someone at the Stranded has woken from their Sunday slumbers.
Everyone gets named and shamed.
http://thestandard.org.nz/here-we-go-again-at-poal/
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
The most one sided blog post and newspaper article I have ever read.
I have been a member of three unions across my working life and never witnessed any of the behaviour Hide describes. If anything, I would describe the unions I belonged to as too democratic.
I am guessing Hide’s strategy was to try and distract readers away from current ACT scandal.
The longer Key keeps Banks on the books the worse the situation will get for the Tory Party.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
snort’
Vote:
September 16th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
I have been a member of three unions across my working life and never witnessed any of the behaviour Hide describes. If anything, I would describe the unions I belonged to as too democratic.
That’s because you’re probably only about 25 years old Hamnida. It used to happen in the 70′s and 80′s exactly as Hide said it did but these days it can’t because of monitoring that would pick it up.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Reid – I am much older than 25. Generally speaking, you make a fair point. I suspect work sites are much safer in many ways today when compared to the 1970s and 1980s.
The Employment Relations Act, and Health and Safety in Employment Act have both promoted healthier workplace relations.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
So what is this about? The evils of unionism? The evils of a union Hide was in once? Did he refuse the pay rates at the time, report it, refuse to take part, or face it down?
Auckland Ports workers contracts will soon be revisited as the review period that was initiated after the last round of negotiations will be up soon.
And so, like clockwork, the first offensive to discredit and vilify begins?
Pathetic. It’s one thing to have a political philosophy, quite another to be a whore.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Yep, Hide just went from a 3/10 in my books to 0/10. These are workers and their families livelihoods we are talking about. Whether or not their children will have food on the table. And all Hide can think of is some cheap political points based on shady evidence from 30 – 40 years ago.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Anyone who thinks that unions aren’t havens for bullies has led a very sheltered life. I had the misfortune to be forced to belong to the Drivers Union for about twenty years from the late sixties through to the eighties. All through that time the union affairs, including strike decisions, were effectively made by union officials for whatever reasons they saw fit. Although we went through the pretense of a vote anyone who dissented was taken out the back for the bash & a good kicking.
Having a wife & kids depending on my wages to eat & pay a couple of mortgages on our home yet being denied the right to work by a bunch of pommie union hacks turned me against unions & the Labour Party for all time.
They are scum, one & all!
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Hide is spot on.
What is not being said is what came up for discussion in Australia by a leading professor in industrial relations law.
He argued that if Unionists were under the same laws as company officers instead of being members of ‘organisations’ then they would not legaly be allowed to mislead the public and their members as they currently do. Company executives are not allowed to mislead anyone, be they the media or public on any matter including workplace relations.
Unionists on the otherhand can and do make outragous lies and accusations that simply prolong disputes.
He argued that disputes would be limited in time and decisions would be made quickly from the facts, rather than the current practices of feeding the media with lies, exagerations and emotion.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Hamnida: Which unions were you in? Where? When?
I have been a delegate for both the Engineers and the Labourers in my working life, both in Taranaki. When I worked in the oilfield – anywhere in the world – it wasn’t unionised.
The Engineers Union in Taranaki in 1983 was a corrupt organization designed to benefit the local organizer, and more so, the guys in Wellington who called the shots. I never witnessed any violent intimidation, but was called a
“brown nosing c…t” for pointing out on more than one occasion that the rules required a secret ballot before we went on strike.
But the thing that ended my involvement wasn’t so much that, but an incident where men could have been killed because some pipework that was supposed to be “tagged out” was in fact live. When I reported that to the head union guy on the site, and said I thought we should stop work on that part of the job in protest, I was told it “wasn’t the right time for confrontation” in other words, the boys in Wellington didn’t want to rock the boat. Didn’t matter a damn that a bloke could have had his head taken off.
I resigned as delegate for Fitzroy Engineering’s crew on the Methanol Plant construction the next day. Anyone who was on that job or the GTG plant up the road would tell similar stories.
Nasska’s experience was late 60′s 70′s…mine was late 70′s early 80′s…that was the height of their power….today unions are probably somewhat more subtle…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
…actually I take that back…pissing on the barbecues and the intimidation of “scabs” is apparently alive and well at the Auckland port…the only other difference is that the front men are now NZ born, and they don’t have the power of the “qualified preference” (Jobs for union members only)
No-one under 45 has any idea of union power in this country in the 70′s and 80′s…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Hamnida: Still waiting for answers..(you might be cooking dinner)…those questions again: Which unions were you a member of? When? Where?
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Australian unions are still at it. Note the illegal picketing that the construction union is up to in Victoria. Apparently they’re registered under federal law, so despite the fact they’re flouting a Victorian Supreme Court decision, they can’t be touched. Needs a decision in the federal courts. All a bit ridiculous.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
@ Hamnida – ever heard of the Doran boys and Ray Bianchi, who ruled the Riggers Union with iron fists? It was due to them that the Mangere Bridge took so long to build. They were also great mates with Richard Prebble when he was the MP for Auckland Central way back in the day, before he lurched to the right. They’re EXACTLY the types of blokes that Hide is talking about.
Modern day unionists are not a patch on them, which is probably a good thing
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
KS: Ray Bianchi is still around! I saw him once at Parliament…in an immaculate denim jacket (the union leaders never got dirty)…He was making a submission to some Select Committee..
What about Con Devitt of the Boilermakers Union? Is he still alive? He whose greatest achievement was to ensure that the BNZ building in Wellington was the last ever structural steel framed building built in NZ…sort of a microcosm (might be the wrong word, I am not a literary guy) for the whole union movement really…Squeeze the golden goose just that bit too hard, and the poor bird up and dies on you…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Still, Rodney often learned valuable lessons in corruption from his union days, judging by his skillful work in using his political position to gain unaccountable sinecures for favoured associates on the PoAL board. Those guys are sticking it to the hapless ratepayers of Auckland in ways that Rodney’s erstwhile Landrover-parts-stealing colleagues could never have dreamed of.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
True. Unions are Rank Amatuers compared to the Auckland city council.
Was doug graham in a union?
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Hamnida
Vote:I remember being told as a fitters mate to check everything after stripping down large gearboxes during maintainence over Christmas for sabotage. Its a standard part of the union “Lets drag this out for as long as well can as triple time” attitude. Even union member were offended by that ..
September 16th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Hapeless ratepayers?
Well they voted for the likes of Lee for years, both Sandra and Mike and a whole host of other troughers of that ilk. They are responsible for the current situation. They and their lefty compatriats allowed the bullies to gain what could only be described as an agreement rorting those same ratepayers by agreeing to the union demands in return for support in getting elected.
Actions eventually have consequences and these guys have arrived at time up. AT LAST.
Imagine what will happen if the POA is prevented from continuing by the actions of these few. No POA. Like everywhere else in the world, someone hungrier will take their work. After all that’s what most of their current work is, jobs lost offshore to more efficient producers because we were so beaten up by the militants that we are no longer cost competitive so we import it from others.
Happening in Aussie too at long last and Aussies are not going to like it. They no longer have an edge as there are more competitive producers of the minerals they have and the demand has dropped.
World of free market.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:14 pm
David Garret, don’t forget that arsewipe Middlemass who managed to stuff many a freezing works.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Psycho Milt: What an appropriate moniker…If Rodders was such a master at “placing” his mates, why, pray, has he not secured a similar sinecure for himself? Or me? Is he still in “deep cover” do ya think?
Shit, I hope he breaks cover soon…I am in dire need of a sinecure…even a well paying job will do…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
I get the impression he is trying to ingratiate himself back in someway, knows which side his bread is buttered on and is trying hard to lift the lid on the honey pot to which he feels entitled?
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Reading today’s newspapers we have a lot of Professional Bludgers in this country and the ratepayers and taxpayers are picking up the tab.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Still waiting for Hamnida to enlighten us on his union career…perhaps he is “off” for the night…fear not fellow readers…I shall ask him again when he next appears among us…
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
If Rodders was such a master at “placing” his mates, why, pray, has he not secured a similar sinecure for himself? Or me?
I’m pretty sure if you think about it real hard you’ll figure out why your erstwhile colleagues in govt haven’t looked after you. As to Rodney, he doesn’t seem like much of one for thinking about his own situation – for example, spending a decade dipping his parliamentary colleagues in shit over perqs and then proceeding to take full advantage of them once he got a Cabinet position. Not a whole lot of self-awareness there, I suspect.
But as one of his colleagues at the time he set this golden turkey up, perhaps you can enlighten us as to the motive for putting PoAL in the hands of a bunch of ACT sympathisers and kitting it out with zero accountability to the ratepayers of Auckland, if it wasn’t sinecures for his mates. Any thoughts?
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Viking2. Good post. Comforting to see left vs left. But in reality they will just buy their way out by screwing the ratepayer senseless, so we still lose.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
David Garrett- SFWU, EPMU (in the 1990s, so probably still called the Engineers Union), Vic Uni and Massey Uni.
Vote:September 16th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Student Unions!! You are firking joking sir, surely?
Vote:September 17th, 2012 at 6:11 am
I respect the right to join a union, as long as they respect the right not to join a union. The problems arise when unions want a monopoly and bully everyone into joining. Once they have achieved that the corruption begins.
I know someone who now works full time for one of the NZ teachers unions. She never worked or trained as a teacher. (She went straight from a BA in bulls*** to a union job.) She has no connection to teaching (apart from when she was a school student). The only relevant qualification she has is her Labour party connections. I think this explains why many (not all) unions are completely out of touch with reality.
Vote:September 17th, 2012 at 7:29 am
David Garrett – Two student unions and two working unions.
Vote:September 17th, 2012 at 8:04 am
Hamnida – A Working Class Hero.
Vote:September 17th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Hamnida: Did you ever work on a big construction site, such as those in Taranaki? Marsden Point? If you had, you would know that what Hide and his supporters here are saying is right on the money…
Vote:September 17th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I think Ray Bianci had a tie in with Peter Tapsell as well.
Vote: