26 Jun 2006

Agreement between union and shipping company ends New Caledonian port dispute

7:30 am on 26 June 2006

The New Caledonian Kanak USTKE union says it has signed an agreement with the MSC shipping company and the port dispute is resolved.

The union argued that multi-national shipping companies setting up services to Noumea will jeopardise other businesses and has asked for a quota system for cargo being unloaded.

Negotiations between the union, MSC and a French expert from the ministry of transport, Yves Gauthier, have been under way for the past week.

A USTKE representative, Pierre Chauvat, says MSC promised at the signing to preserve the balance of the New Caledonian market.

"MSC president and the USTKE signed an agreement to settle the dispute between MSC and USTKE. So today we can say that the problem is solved. MSC is engaged but is not troubling or destabilising the freight market volume between Australia and New Caledonia."

The multi-national Maersk shipping company remains a target of the union and Mr Chauvat says the union hopes it will come to a similar agreement with the shipping giant.

He says Yves Gauthier has indicated he will talk to Maersk next week to find a solution for the dispute.