Port Unions reject 'silly' claim

“The claim by Dr Brent Layton that Lyttelton port unions have somehow engineered his demise is just plain silly,” said Paul Goulter, CTU Secretary and advocate for the port unions.

“Our concern is to get this collective employment agreement negotiated and settled. We now find that the unions are being blamed for all sorts of things including pressuring the mayor and City Council representatives. Quite frankly we have more important things to do than worry about the governance issues facing Dr Layton.”

“This collective agreement needs to be negotiated and settled quickly. Beat ups through the media are clearly in bad faith and do nothing to help progress the matter,” said Paul Goulter.

“It is a difficult matter to sort out all of these changes in a way that meets the needs of both the LPC and the workforce. In our view we are almost there and it is just not helpful to have one party try and run these negotiations through the media.”

“The mayor’s attempts to bring the parties to the negotiating table are a sensible attempt to sort it out. The Canterbury public would certainly expect that to happen and the unions still stand prepared to co-operate in that endeavour.”

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