Strike spoiled Niue party
p. 37 · Read in the full issue
NIUE’S transport woes continued last month when the long-running port strike in New Zealand took some of the fizz out of the island’s 15th birthday celebrations. Niue’s merchants had ordered about 450 tonnes of extra food and drink to cater for the 2000 partygoers celebrating the anniversary of
Niue achieving self-government. But
loading delays caused by the strike
meant the party fare was still stuck on the wharves at Auckland. And the tiny island was also running out of some basic supplies because the monthly Cook
Islands National Line (CINL) service was late.
CINL director Don Pratt said the nor mal 28-day round-trip had been stretch ed out to at least 40 days by the strike, brought on when unions and employers failed to agree on a national award to cover the restructuring of port manage ment. Pratt spent several weeks fielding frantic telephone calls from Niue while trying to calm about 200 angry Niueans living in Auckland whose incoming taro consignments had rotted on the wharves during the strike. □