Port pay request raises eyebrows

Justifying the request, Lyttelton Port chairman Barney Sundstrum says an independent study revealed the board’s current pay is “substantially below equivalent companies”. However, the major South Island port recently reported a comparable 1.7% loss in net annual profitability to US$8.24m.

Having themselves missed out on a bonus as a result of that loss, workers are understood to be disapproving of the estimated US$35,000 per-person increase.

Furthermore, port management was unable to efficiently deal with yet another disruptive industrial conflict earlier in the year – strike action taking place before a three-year collective employment was finally ratified in April.