SCIENTISTS DESIRE PARITY

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 3

SCIENTISTS DESIRE PARITY

*-(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 16.

Government scientists are not so concerned at the lack of parity in salaries between themselves and university staff, as with the lack of parity between New Zealand salaries and those paid overseas.

This was the general feel-j ing of an open meeting organised at the Science Congress today by the Association of Scientists, and attended by more than 60 Government and University scientists.

“Essentially, our scientists feel they should be on a par with their equivalents in Australia,” said the president of the association (Mr G. E. Rushworth, of Wellington). There was general dissatisfaction with the salary bars in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and it was said more than half the scientists in the department were earning less than their university equivalents, even under the new rates recently announced. HIGHER LEVEL The top level in the universities was about £5OO above that in the department, scientists said. At the other end of the scale, an efficient recruit in the Government service could count on automatic promotion to an annual salary of £1760; in the universities he would go automatically to £2OOO, and, if he was efficient, to £2500. The scientists were shown a letter from the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) to Mr Rushworth, in which he said the only ground for main-

taining the former relationship between salaries of scientists in the State Services and those of lecturing staff at the lower level of the scales was tradition. “In terms of reward for work undertaken there was no case for parity in rates of remuneration, and that is why the former relativity was not persisted with,” Mr Holyoake said in the letter.

The nature of the work, rather than the qualifications ; held, must determine equali- , ties of salary, he said. While the State Services needed men of first class ability to undertake sophisticated research, there was also a need for people of more limi- ' ted ability to undertake a more restricted range of scientific work.

Two resolutions were passed at. the meeting. One criticised the Government’s decision to delay a start on the biology and engineering blocks at Auckland University. The other called for further strengthening of postgraduate links between the universities and Government departments.