280 Men Stop Work On Wairakei Project

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28973, 14 August 1959, Page 10

280 Men Stop Work On Wairakei Project

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, August 13. Two hundred and eighty members of the New Zealand Workers’ Union employed by the Ministry of Works at the Wairakei geothermal power project stopped work today as a result of a dispute over the right to work overtime. The stoppage does not affect men employed by private contractors who are building the power station and the production of electricity from the completed part of the station is not affected.

The men include labourers, drillers, fitters, electricians, concreters and carpenters employed on installing equipment and in development work. An emergency staff of Ministry

of Works engineers is standing by at Wairakei to complete urgent jobs. In Wellington this evening the general secretary of the union, Mr H. J. Allen, said he had high hopes that the dispute would be settled tomorrow. “An organiser from Auckland will talk to the men,” he said. The men at Wairakei claim that 32 men working on the project have been victimised. The decision to stop work was made at a meeting this afternoon by 166 votes to 70.

The trouble began on Tuesday evening, said Mr S. D. Craig, senior drilling engineer at the project, today. "About 40 men were concreting equipment around a geothermal bore. The work was essential and had not been completed at 4.45 p.m., which is the men’s normal knock-off time,” said Mr Craig.

“About a quarter of an hour's overtime was involved. If the work had not been completed thousands of pounds worth of equipment could have been damaged. "Thirty-two of the men refused to work overtime. The engineering staff had to turn out to complete the work.” Mr Craig said the 32 men were later sent notices saying that, in future, they would only be required to work the normal 40hour week. They would not be asked to work overtime. “However,” said Mr Craig, “we offered today to withdraw the notice if the union would give us an assurance that the men would work overtime when it was essential. This has been refused.”

Also affected by the stoppage are 17 truck drivers and operators who have been told by the Ministry of Works that their services will not be needed.