An Employment Court injunction released yesterday has stopped Ports of Auckland Ltd from seeking to contract out the jobs of nearly 300 staff until mid-May, the majority of workers being Maritime Union of New Zealand members.
An Employment Court teleconference is expected to be held today to determine when the almost 300 sacked and locked-out workers can return to work.
The employer sacked the workers nearly a month ago and announced their jobs would be contracted out, but the union is seeking an Employment Court determination on the legality of the move as it considers its members, who were striking at the time, to have been in "good faith" collective bargaining.
That substantive hearing is scheduled for May 16, with judge Barrie Travis yesterday saying there was a "seriously arguable case" that the actions of the employer in threatening and then deciding to contract out the work while new collective bargaining was under way "was likely to undermine and arguably has undermined the bargaining".
Union president Garry Parsloe said in a statement yesterday that aside from the "crime" of staff losing five weeks' pay, Auckland's businesses and population had suffered severe losses.
The Auckland council had lost money through the employer's "ill-thought-out plans", which caused tens of millions of dollars in trade to be diverted to Tauranga's port in recent weeks.
The union contended in court the decision to contract out work had caused fear of dismissal, created pressures on families and undermined bargaining for a new collective.
"There is evidence in the affidavits before the [Employment] Court which makes this arguable," Judge Travis said.
Permanent wharf staff who voted last Thursday to end a four-week strike, were yesterday expected to have been paid eight days' wages, agreed to by the employer earlier this week.
