The death of a dockworker at the Ports of Auckland has sparked a call by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) for a national inquiry into safety at the port.
It’s backing the Maritime Union of New Zealand which is undertaking the inquiry after what the ITF has called “an unacceptable number of deaths and injuries” that have taken place in New Zealand ports in recent years.
While details are yet to be confirmed, initial reports indicate the stevedoring worker died after “a fall from height” while he was working on a Singaporean-flagged container vessel, the Capitaine Tasman.
A maritime worker was crushed to death in 2020 when a container was dropped during a lifting operation at the port’s Fergusson Container Terminal, while in 2014 another stevedore was seriously injured in a fall while unloading a containership.
The ITF’s Paddy Crumlin said unions were reminding the community that safety on the job was non-negotiable in the run-up to International Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28.
