Strikers At West Arm Decide To Return

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30535, 2 September 1964, Page 1

Strikers At West Arm Decide To Return

The 140 strikers at West Arm, Manapouri, would return to work at 730 a.m. today, it was decided at a meeting of 80 men at the camp last evening.

Resumption will end a strike which has lasted all but one of the last 19 days, has meant the loss of nearly £15,000 in gross wages and allowances to the men, and the loss of more than 250 ft of tunnelling.

The terms of settlement of the stoppage provided for an increase of Is Id an hour, inclusive of the 6 per cent wage-order increase, for tunnellers and labourers, said the secretary of the workers’ job committee (Mr M. Scrivener) last evening. All other workers, including craft tradesmen, would receive an increase of lOd an hour, inclusive of the 6 per cent, he said.

The increases are the same as those in the terms of settlement negotiated last week by the Federation of Labour but rejected by the men. A revised bonus system was discussed and accepted by the men last evening, said Mr Scrivener.

The bonus system, he said, was accepted on condition that certain anomalies would be ironed out by further negotiation between the management of the contractors, Mor-rison-Downer-Fletcher, and the West Arm job committee. On the question of union

coverage on the access tunnel, Mr Scrivener said: “I think the Federation of Labour is meetlug to decide about the union coverage. We have just heard that the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) will get his legal department to determine who gets the coverage—the New Zealand Workers’ Union or the General Labourers’ Union.” “In the seven months I have been here, the majority of the men have said they want the New Zealand Workers’ Union,” said Mr Scrivener. “Allowed To Drag On” This question had been allowed to drag on for months, Mr Scrivener said. Mr Scrivener said that at last evening's meeting, the question of a bonus system had been “pushed back to one side.” “We have decided to aqcept the bonus,” he said. “We will see the management in the morning to iron out the details.” The men, he said, adopted a resolution to return to work after last evening’s meeting had been in progress for half an hour. Men came in yesterday from all directions to attend the meeting. Twelve sent telegrams of apology. In Wellington yesterday the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) said that the Govern-

ment was gravely disturbed at the continued stoppages of work that had occurred on the West Arm project, the Press Association reports. Every day's delay meant a further delay in the supply of electricity from this vital project, he said. “I did hope that when this dispute was taken over by the Federation of Labour work would have been resumed and further stoppages avoided,” he said. At the root of the disturbance was the jurisdictional dispute between the Labourers’ Union and the New Zealand Workers’ Union.. Approach To Court “Unfortunately the legal position is by no means clear. In the circumstances | have instructed my department as soon as work is resumed to take urgent action in the Court of Arbitration to settle this matter.” In the meantime, as almost all the labourers and tunnellers had elected to join the New Zealand Workers’ Union, he had advised the contractors that until the legal position was determined they would recognise the New Zealand Workers’ Union as representing the labourers, tunnellers, and associated workers employed by them at West Arm.