A digger-driving stevedore from Tauranga has paved the way for port workers to get better conditions, after years of legal battles.

George Lye persevered through three Employment Court judgements and multiple Employment Relations Authority decisions and recently won a personal grievance against the port logistics company ISO, which required him to be available 24-7 with little certainty about what shifts he works.

The Employment Relations Authority ordered ISO to pay Lye thousands in compensation - $22,500 for failing to compensate him for requiring him to be permanently available for work and $15,000 for loss of dignity suffered as a result of his inability to plan any aspect of his life with certainty.

Lye has a young son from a previous relationship, and in her June decision, ERA member Nicola Craig says his work situation prevented him from making a commitment to see him on a regular basis because "he is never able to confidently say whether or not he will be at work".

"Mr Lye frequently feels he is letting his son down because he cannot commit to arrangements with him. There is a frustrating sense of not having control over his own life."

Craig says Lye has suffered from a lack of agreed hours as well as the lack of reasonable compensation for his availability.

Maritime Union national secretary Craig Harrison says Lye's case will be instrumental in changing waterfront workers' conditions.

On the back of the ERA decision, he says the union has negotiated a new collective employment agreement with ISO that compensates workers for time they are expected to be available for work.

Harrison says the agreement improves rostering, availability, and included solid increases in wage rates.

The agreement is "ground breaking", and sets a new standard in the stevedoring industry, he says.

"Put simply, these innovative improvements will mean waterfront workers have the opportunity for work life balance, dignity, and the ability to plan their personal and family life."

Harrison says there has been a massive problem getting workers into the industry, as unsocial conditions, lack of a career path, and a high risk environment have made it unattractive.

The union plans to use the new collective agreement as the basis for a Fair Pay Agreement in the ports sector and recently appointed a national organiser who will be visiting all ports in New Zealand in the coming months.

The Maritime Union has presented Lye with a Solidarity Award.

-Amy Williams/RNZ.