MEN’S PAY DOCKED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30316, 17 December 1963, Page 18

MEN’S PAY DOCKED

Fire Board’s Action

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, Dec. 16.

A special meeting of the Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board today decided to dock I firemen’s wages by 20 per, cent for the three days since I Friday, when the men refused to carry out routine work. The board also decided to seek legal advice on what it regarded as a breach of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act that no satisfactory notice was given the board of the Fire Brigades’ Union intention to strike. The firemen returned to work today after three days’. stoppage of work on duties] other than fire fighting. A meeting of the finance and purchasing committee of the board was turned into an emergency meeting, to which other members of the board were invited, for discussion over the strike. The meeting was taken in committee. The chairman of the Metropolitan Fire Board (Mr S. A. Gleadow) said that a meeting had been arranged tomorrow to meet the union. “No Reason” He said tomorrow’s meeting had been arranged before the strike occurred, and he could see no reason for the constant needling by the union, more particularly as the meeting was between representatives of the Industrial Union of Employers and the Federation of Fire Brigades’ Employees. In a statement issued after the meeting, the board said the first knowledge it bad of the strike was through the newspapers on Friday night and Saturday morning. The president of the Auckland union (Mr A. W. Monk) said today the union would oppose any move to dock wages for the strike period. He denied that the union knew of any talks which would cover all the disputed points until Saturday, the day after the strike began, when the union was contacted by Mr W. J. Langdon for the Fire Authorities Industrial Union of Employers.