The 70-strong march was called by the National Distribution Union with support from the Waterfront Workers Union and the Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union. Workers at the Eves Valley mill are currently provided with transport to and from work.

CHH wants to withdraw the free transport from the site to reduce its wage bill. There are about 250 workers at the sawmill and about half use the company-provided transport. Workers had rejected the company proposal of a one-time payment of NZ$1,200 as compensation for the loss of transport (NZ$1 = US 40 cents). The Eves Valley workers were joined by Nelson port workers looking to strengthen their fight against a union-busting attack by CHH. A rally following the march was addressed by union delegates and officials from three unions and by the Labour Party member of parliament for the Maori electorate of Te Tai Tonga.

Waterfront workers throughout the South Island have been continuing to protest against Mainland Stevedoring, an antiunion outfit contracted by CHH last year to load logs at South Island ports. Every ship Mainland has loaded over the past five months has been met by union pickets, with large contingents of police escorting the nonunion labor onto the wharves.

Waterfront workers organized a picket in Nelson March 27 of the ship Torm Eastern. Mediation talks between CHH, Mainland, and the Waterfront Workers Union have come to a standstill.

Safety is a key issue in the dispute. Mainland operates without a hatchman to guide the crane operator and watch for the worker called a digger operator in the ship's hold. Instead it relies on radio communication between the crane and the digger, and the crane operator often can't see the digger. The company operates with only two breaks in a 12-hour shift, as opposed to the standard three, and they do not rotate jobs in a shift. Mainland's operations also threaten job security on the wharves. Instead of permanent jobs the company has turned to employing workers on a casual basis.

Baskaran Appu is a member of the National Distribution Union. Annalucia Vermunt is a member of the Meat Workers Union in Christchurch.  
 
 
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