TYRE FACTORY DISPUTE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27512, 20 November 1954, Page 2

TYRE FACTORY DISPUTE

UNION AND EMPLOYERS NEGOTIATE

Although settlement was not reached in the dispute which began on Thursday, normal work is continuing at the Papanui factory of the Firestone Rubber Company. Ltd. At a* conference yesterday with representatives of the Canterbury Rubber Workers’ Union the employers offered proportionate increases in bonus payments on three of the seven categories of tyre production. Negotiations will continue on Tuesday, and a stop-work meeting of the workers has been called for 3.30 p.m. to hear the progress reports. Mr R. Weir, chief inspector of the Labour Department in Christchurch, called at the factory at 11.20 a.m. yesterday to discuss Thursday’s stop-work meeting with some of the job delegates. The union president (Mr A. E. Armstrong) and the secretary (Mr A. B. Grant) arrived during the discussion. Mr Grant said the union did not propose to discuss the matter with Mr Weir, as the dispute was one between the management and the workers. A conference between the union officials, job delegates, and the employers took place in the afternoon. “The discussions were amicable,” said Mr Grant when questioned last evening.