Ports of Auckland staff furious over ousted CEO’s payout
The Maritime Union is furious outgoing Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson has been paid nearly $1.8 million before leaving the company.
Gibson, who resigned in May, is facing health and safety charges over a stevedore’s death last year.
That death is one of three linked to the Ports in recent years, along with multiple injuries.
Before leaving the job, Gibson was on a salary of around $820,000 – the highest paid employee there.
But the latest annual report shows payment to a resigning employee of between $1.78 million and $1.79 million in the last financial year.
After 3 deaths and a deplorable hate of the Union, Tony Gibson gets paid out $1.7million????
The Union hating Tony Gibson did everything in his power to ostracise and silence the Union. He actively ignored their concerns, he oversaw an incentive scheme that endangered workers and he refused to lower speed limits in the Port.
His claim that he was staying on to fix the problems he ignored was just outrageous!
If your Doctor had ignored your concerns about being incredibly sick and then after becoming incredibly sick, then demanded to remain on as your Dr to do the surgery, you’d tell them to go jump!
Look, this isn’t a private company, it’s owned by Auckland Council, the public ethos demands leaders who are going to put health and safety first.
Gibson didn’t do that and he gets paid almost $2million?
There is one rule for the rich and another rule for the rest of us!
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This is just disgusting. The payout to Gibson not only illustrates the boards total disrespect for the families of the workers killed at the port but also that it is prepared to reward this person in spite of the harm, grief and dismissive attitude he and his board brought to the families of those killed.
By all accounts, in addition to the unacceptable deaths of those good decent people Gibson and his board ran a dismal operation and for all of that he gets rewarded by the board. Just unbelievably callous and what an insult to the families of those who were killed and to all the port workers. And even though he might be facing a prosecution in court, the board and Auckland Council never called him or the board to account.
The vultures need to pull their heads in, the man negotiated a contract, it was rightfully honored under law, end of story.
But note to the union – learn to negotiate good contracts instead of going on a witch hunt. From what i have witnessed with contract negotiations completed by NZ unions for their members, they are simply hopeless. Maybe give Mr Gibson a call he could probably teach you a great deal about contract negotiations for your members.
But hold on a minute! If 50 people were murdered and 7 injured and you are the PM, should Ardern be vilified and sacked too?
Angels are above the law.
Vile comment Denny. Head on over to kiwiblog with this kind of sewerage.
I’m a stauch Labour supporter of the past who can not stand identity politics and incompetence such as the Labour government of today.
Suck it up.
I’m in total agreement with you about identity politics and the incompetence of the Labour party.
It’s still a vile comment. And the language of suck it up, well, that’s the kind of macho bullshit that is the language of the playground bully really.
You’re obviously passionate – why not try and make a real difference instead of going down the keyboard warrior path?
If you want accountability where does it stop. There are all sorts of employees who have made wrong decisions leading to various problems but we generally look to the intent behind any decisions before considering any sort of punishment. This concept has helped me avoid financial loss in the past & I’m sure many other readers have made genuine mistakes they did not have to pay for.
While the March 15 event was awful & as Martyn has repeatedly pointed out the country employs a significant number of security-related people who should have been able to prevent it the idea that the PM has time to supervise all those workers or should be held accountable for their failure is simply ridiculous.
It is her job. They all report to her and she directs all the heads of the agencies. She’s not some lowly paid employee.
Do you seriously believe that the various security heads reported to her that there was a nutter in Otago wanting to run amock in a Mosque but they had decided to ignore him? While I am not a mind reader I would expect that the various security heads all said things were under control & while some people think the PM has ESP I don’t believe that so she would be trusting the word of those heads that they were doing a good job.
Gibson like the many wealthy arrogant class are products of the system which John Key and his colleges encouraged in the nine years they held office,
I see them every day in their $80,000 and up prestige vehicles driving like lunatics because nothing can touch them.
Gibson is a product of the system that Ruth Richardson and her colleagues enforced with the wholesale destruction of union power and influence that could of prevented the deaths at the port.
You can oversee the loss of lie and still collect hge money
Typo.
You can oversee the loss of life and still collect huge money.
$1.7M is 34 years pay for someone on $50,000; the sense of entitlement of the ‘ruling class’ is obscene.
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