Auckland watersiders

[troyvdh]

...given that I got away with posting ..Leaky homes....when I should not have ....given it was not a company...I am now trully emboldened...

...my concern is ...how come no journalist/media has made an issue about the disparity between the claims of those currently on strike.....Oceana workers are paid sub $14 an hour / Affco workers the same....no allowances what ever....even weekends....overtime may involve 1/4 pay in addition.....I do acknowledge that I factually could be wrong...re specifics....but basically these folk earn less than $40k...mostly less

...however AW workers..are supposedly paid...$85-$90000....and supposedly in a 40 hour week they "work" 26 hours....

..what amazes me is that there appears to be no national disgust/anguish about this..this appears to be a "freaky moment back in time".....

...further more there has/is been wide debate out the looming issue of the care of "us" being the "elderly"....basically the elderly proportion of the population percentage is increasing and that there is/are going to be more of us needing of folk to "wipe our bums"...

...so how on earth is this current issue of folk who work on the waterfront earning well above the average getting so much recognition is ...well...sad.

[slimwin]

Port worker= $27 per hr alegedly. They write their own schedules at the moment and not necessarily when a ship is in, hence the need for lots of OT. Sounds like an old government job with the conditions stuck in the past. I'm pretty sure theres plenty of qualified trades that would be very happy with $27 and they also have heavy,dangerous ahift work.

Hope I haven't waded into a tounge lashing here.

[neopoleII]

TM has been discussing this for a while, with alot of watersiders doing the posting. and they seem to be miffed that their $35 hour jobs paid out at 40 hours per week are in jeopardy of being the same pay but they have to work the 40 hours.
the days of "italian style" labour unions on the waterside are gone, but the "italian style union bosses" will push to the hilt........ for....... power. the workers on the waterside will always command top pay rates, the union honchos will lose the fees.
this is just a joke....... its the port of auckland..... and the union says that the works and their families will be hard done by, by losing their jobs.... the jobs are still there, as is the pay rate.
i respect unions....... but this is sopranos stuff.

[slimwin]

I respect collective bargaining. Unions not so much..

[iceman]

In 1997 I Captained my vessel into Fremantle in Western Australia. About 4.30PM the "Fremantle Doctor" (the local sea breeze) came in quite strong straining my ship's lines. As all my crew were at the pub, so I dragged an extra "bow line" ashore to secure my ship. I was confronted by two fat lazy Unionised port workers who were not interested in securing my 90m long ship, but only in making sure noone would take their jobs. They told me I had to pull the line back onboard and then give it to them. They risked my ship & cargo by their stupid actions. Since then, I can not support Wharfie Unions.

[CJ]

The unions stuffed up. There was always going to be an increase in flexibility (ie. loss of fixed shifts). The union should have seen this and required more in return.

Alternatively, they could have been very smart. They are getting a redundancy and will eventually get their jobs back via the contractors so that might have been more than they got if they negotiated a change.

[duncan macgregor]

The greed of mankind is not restricted to port workers screwing their position as they have tried to do. The downfall of communism was due to greed and corruption, likewise the downfall of the capitalistic systems will go in similar fashion. Take a gander at the greed of the CEO salaries and perks in most of our large companies, which makes the warfies look like amateurs in comparison. Look at the salaries some council big wigs in Christchurch are screwing the rate payers at the moment in a city ravaged by earthquakes. It starts at the top, and works all the way down when people worm their way into positions where greed is the norm. The watersiders are more stupid than anything else, they allow some stupid union,[ who incidently still pick up a salary as they strike],run them out of a job. The answer is simple more stringet rules of conduct in place for all to abide by, where the good of the company or country comes first before the greed of individuals.
Macdunk

[modandm]

the reality is that port work is unskilled labour which anyone can do with a short period of training. That noted they are being massively overpaid relative to others in similair work. It's happening all over the world - companies are being forced to be more competitive and that is driving down pay for low/unskilled work and pay upwards for skilled work.

[Crypto Crude]

mackdunk,
you big wombat...
...
..
.
if your not happy about your pay, then find another job...


:cool:
.^sc

[duncan macgregor]

SHREW one, Wombats are Aussies my friend. I cant remember the last time I stuck my hand out to collect a wage packet. I always was the one employing. Greed to collect more than reasonable entitlement will be the downfall of any system or occupation in the end. Macdunk

[Crypto Crude]

mackdunk,
im just giving you stick, because thats what I like to do...
...
..
.
I dont know if I totally agree with what your saying in the case of the warfies...
CEOs should get paid lots more than workers...They make the big calls, take the big risks... strong management leads to higher profits... these workers are on decent pinger...It must be the dream of the worker to get into the position of 100'ks in salary..... workers punch all their lives... to give a few the opportunity of much more is a dream worth letting them have... if you gap wages more closely, then what incentives do workers have to be more productive...?

as others were saying, these warfies were on something like 27 dollars an hour, this is not bad coin for their society class... to hold the city port to ransom is poor...

it works both ways mackdunk...

:cool:
.^sc

[STRAT]

mackdunk,
im just giving you stick, because thats what I like to do...
...
..
.
I dont know if I totally agree with what your saying in the case of the warfies...
CEOs should get paid lots more than workers...They make the big calls, take the big risks...

:cool:
.^scYou mean like Banks for example?:p


...and where to start with that class remark.

Im from a working class background and wouldnt get out of bed for $27

I consider myself classless ( pun intended ) :D

[duncan macgregor]

Shrewdy the difference between entitlement and outright greed is what is wrong in this case as with others scattered through the system from top to bottom. Take the instance of that man on the christchurch council getting thousands in a salary rise shortly after the earthquake. Why should a CEO who is actually a wage earner earn ten times as much as the prime minister of the country?, who actually runs the whole shibang. Get a bigger stick mate you are not even making a dent. Macdunk

[duncan macgregor]

You mean like Banks for example?:p


...and where to start with that class remark.

Im from a working class background and wouldnt get out of bed for $27

I consider myself classless ( pun intended ) :D I cant agree more STRAT you aint got no class. Macdunk

[STRAT]

I cant agree more STRAT you aint got no class. MacdunkHmmm . Double negative.

How classy is that? :lol:
You trying to say I am classy. Mac? You know it aint true.

How are you? Fish Btting up there?

Been a while.

[Crypto Crude]

aint heard from mackdunk in so long ise starting to wonder what happened with that fossil...
I messaged you months ago, but nothing...:(...

well madunk...keep doing what you do... whatever that is... later pal... keep in touch... your old mate/sparring partner...
shrewd
:cool:
.^sc

[duncan macgregor]

Back to the watersiders dispute lads if you dont mind. The trouble with unions instigating strike action is the workers strike with no income. The union officials get paid regardless.
The solution to stop strikes is easy, regulate that union funds get frozen during a strike. Its easy for the union officials to bleat on about we will withhold our labour with no consequence to themselves. The outcome of all this for the investor is the obvious rise in POT share price. Macdunk

[Crypto Crude]

3924

this is mackdunk...
:cool:
.^sc

[blockhead]

..
.
...
CEOs should get paid lots more than workers...They make the big calls, take the big risks... strong management leads to higher profits... these workers are on decent pinger...as others were saying, these warfies were on something like 27 dollars an hour, this is not bad coin for their society class... to hold the city port to ransom is poor...


:cool:
.^sc

Shrewdy, I thought you were a man of some intellect, your quote above about giving the CEOs more dosh because they take the big risks and make the big calls doesn't hold water for me. Who is paying for the cock ups made by the CEOs of various finance COs ?... the poor bloody peasants...on two fronts, first they lose all their coin in the dodgy investments and then the Govt provides a guarantee for the finance Cos which is coming out of the poor bloody peasants tax contribution.Hard to say the CEO is carrying the can there !

I see Modandm is saying in his post the wharfies are unskilled labourers and don't deserve high pay, I suggest he pops off down the wharf and has a gander at some of the machinery they are using, pieces of machinery costing millions of dollars, I wouldn't want to be working under or around it if some $14 an hour worker with a fortnights training was operating it !

Two sides to every situation and I say there will be a fair amount of blame to be aportioned either way for the Auckland port row

[Stranger_Danger]

"I suggest he pops off down the wharf and has a gander at some of the machinery they are using, pieces of machinery costing millions of dollars, I wouldn't want to be working under or around it if some $14 an hour worker with a fortnights training was operating it !"

... which I have some time for, but, many in society (including some Wharfies I guess?) happily send off their parents to be cared for by someone on $14 an hour.

I guess this is the problem with pay - you can always argue both ways and an argument based on individual opinions of what labour is worth more never ends.

This is why, to a point, its up to the market to decide.

[craic]

I do not follow any religion but according to Jesus as quoted in the bible - when someone complained of low wages - "The labourer is worthy of his hire" in other words, you take a job at a particular rate and that is what you are worthy of. The CEO's pay has nothing to do with the levels of difficulty between tasks, it has to do with the employer hiring the best person for the job at the going rate among similar industries. Companies do not pay mega bucks to top staff for fun or through some mystical loyalty to members of a class - they pay to get and hold the best they can. When I was a timber inspector on the log and timber wharves, the wharfies had many teachers, mechanics and the like among them for the money they made at that time.