Power Scheme Labour

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31041, 22 April 1966, Page 10

Power Scheme Labour

A month ago negotiations to settle wages, conditions, and terms for the engagement of skilled Italian workers on two of the tunnels for the Tongariro power scheme promised to go satisfactorily. The Federation of Labour and union representatives had prepared a list of reasonable principles on which they would base their negotiations with the Italian combine which lodged the most favoured tender for, the tunnel contract. Now the federation is at odds with the Government because the Minister of Works (Mr Allen) has informed the tenderers and the federation of conditions on which the Government would sign a contract. The timing of Mr Allen’s letter is certainly unfortunate. Had he announced from the outset the framework within which an agreement would be acceptable to the Government all might have been well.

The project is urgent. No Government responsible for works needed to meet the demand for electricity can afford to put obstacles in the way of construction if the means to proceed are available on fair terms. Labour, not money, is short. The charge by the president of the Federation of Labour (Mr Skinner) that the Government has found the cost of the project too much of a strain on the country’s resources does not make sense. The solution here, as on the Manapouri scheme, is overseas labour. After that, it is up to the Government, as the client and agent of electricity consumers who will pay for the scheme, to conclude a contract that will protect the consumer and not damage other projects by provoking a wages spiral. Mr Skinner has asked Mr Allen to withdraw his letter setting out the conditions under which the Government believes it will obtain this end. He has also asked the Government to guarantee its acceptance of any agreement reached between the contractors and the workers. It would be hardly less reasonable for the tenderers to demand the Government’s acceptance of a contract containing conditions laid down by the tenderers alone; and the federation would hardly approve of that! Surely Mr Skinner does not expect to write the contract without regard for the client’s interests. Mr Allen’s letter simply declares these interests and the conditions under which they can be preserved. They rlso happen to ensure generous and attractive terms for those on behalf of whom Mr Skinner has been negotiating.