Australasian Transport Unions Gather with Toll Holdings in their Sights

A trans-Tasman conference of transport unions was under way in Wellington today with multi-national employer Toll Holdings in its sights.Ninety transport union leaders and delegates from Australian and New Zealand transport and maritime unions were meeting for the two-day strategy conference organised jointly by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

"This is a watershed conference in the evolution of Australasian trade unionism," said CTU president Ross Wilson. "It's the first time that Australasian unions have combined to develop a strategy which focuses on a single multi-national employer."

Toll Holdings was an increasingly dominant player in the transport scene on both sides of the Tasman. It took a supply chain approach and was involved in rail, road and sea.

Minister of Transport Pete Hodgson opened the conference at 9.30am and presentations today would include an Australian university research report on how the Toll business model operated.