Drivers’ Award Dispute Settled

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29916, 1 September 1962, Page 12

Drivers’ Award Dispute Settled

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 31. Settlement was reached late today in the motor and horse drivers’ award dispute.

The employers’ representatives offered a weekly wage rise of either 10s for an 18-month award or Ils 8d for a two-year award.

The workers’ representatives, who about an hour earlier had indicated they might settle at Ils 8d for 18 months, agreed to accept the employers’ twoyear suggestion.

The agreement was arrived at shortly before 6pm The employers today first offered a 10s increase, and at lunch negotiations were still bogged down at that figure. Later the workers said they would accept 12s 6d, but the employers indicated that 10s was a final offer.

More adjournments were taken during which the workers indicated they could accept Us Bd. a figure recently agreed to for ambulance and passenger transport drivers

Settlement was then reached Since the last meeting, some weeks ago. the employers were offering a rise of 6s Bd. and the workers' had reduced their demands from 30s to 13s 4d, the drivers’ unions had held stopwork meetings. This was alluded to when the parties met with the Conciliation Commissioner (Mr C. L. Hunter) this morning

by the employers' assessor. Mr P L Oldham. He asked whether the workers' assessors were still tied to 13s 4d Mr W. J. Welsh, for the drivers, said his assessors were not tied, but he could not at that stage undertake to accept a lesser figure Mr Hunter asked both sides to appreciate the seriousness of the situation and to attempt to reach a genuine compromise A number of other clauses were disposed of by agreement.