Members of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) working at Timaru’s port, have issued a second strike notice.
The RMTU members issued a notice of a further 24-hour strike on Friday, December 17, following one notified on Tuesday for Thursday, December 16.
“We are not ruling out issuing more notices in the days to come as we have received a mandate from members for strike action anytime from December 7 to December 24,” RMTU South Island organiser John Kerr said.
PrimePort Timaru chief executive Phil Melhopt issued a statement on Tuesday, following the first strike notice saying it ‘’remained committed to reaching a resolution and hopeful of a settlement before the strike begins’’.
“New Zealand’s importers and exporters, as well as consumers, have already suffered enough from the impact of Covid-19 and pandemic-related supply chain disruption. We are hopeful of avoiding further disruption in the busy lead-up to Christmas,” Melhopt said.
The RMTU has been negotiating for a Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA) with PrimePort Timaru and Quality Marshalling since May claiming an 8 per cent increase in wages at the port.
Kerr said the union was hopeful of concluding an agreement before any industrial action was taken.
The RMTU has already served KiwiRail with two strike notices. A one-day strike will be held by South Island union members on December 16 and by North Island union members on December 17.
Since train control functions were located in the North Island, the December 17 strike would also halt operations in the South Island.
RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson said if the strike went ahead it would be the first full national stoppage of the rail system in New Zealand since 1994.
A nationwide postal ballot was taken by the RMTU on whether to take industrial action, Butson said.
Of 1504 returned ballots, a total of 1420 union members voted for strike action (94.41 per cent), with 81 against (5.39 per cent) and three invalid (0.2 per cent).