HONEST AND FAIR

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30230, 7 September 1963, Page 19

HONEST AND FAIR

Criteria For Conciliation

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON. Sept. 5. “Conciliation must be honest, fair and a little humble," Mr L. A. Atkinson, chairman of the State Services Commission, told Wellington members of the Institute of Public Administration today. “There is no great credit to anyone giving too little when he know-s a little more is justified.’’ he said. Discussing employer-em-ployee relations in State and local-body government, he said public servants had a firmer platform from which to begin wage negotiations than that which applied in the private sector. This was because of the acceptance of the principle that Public Service pay rates should bear a fair relation to current rates paid for similar work dome in the private sector. Mr Atkinson made these points from his experience of wage negotiations:— Although the State Services Commission had had “considerable disagreement" with the Public Service Association at times, it preferred to deal with one employee group rather than with several sectors within one group. Employees’ requests were not always entirely in line with their genuine beliefs. They had nothing to lose by claiming 2s an hour even when they knew a claim for an increase of 2d an hour would be more realistic. Employers’ representatives understated their offers with the thought that it gave them a minimum starting point On occasions when the tactic of offering a supportable figure had been tried, the offer was usually regretted because the advocate was accused of inflexibility when he declined to move from it.