http://nz.biz.yahoo.com//091104/3/fhni.html

Ports of Auckland faced criticism from unions today for flying workers in from other ports just 12 weeks after making staff redundant.

The port said workers were being flown in for an exceptional situation involving the complete unloading and reloading of a vessel by a shipping line changing a vessel operating on a route. This was occurring during a record week at the port, which is the largest container port in the country.

In a joint statement, the Maritime Union of New Zealand and Rail and Maritime Transport Union (Munz) said the port was bringing in labour from Lyttelton and Wellington.

"They were told there were too many redundancies, and it would create a shortage of skilled workers. Now this has happened," Munz national vice president Garry Parsloe said.

He wanted a commitment from the port to train a sufficient number of its own workforce.