BOYCOTT BY F.O.L.

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31052, 6 May 1966, Page 1

BOYCOTT BY F.O.L.

Race Policy Endorsed (N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 5. If a South African I Rugby team came to New I Zealand “it might go hungry,” the president of the Federation of Labour (Mr T. E. Skinner) told the federation’s conference today. Mr Skinner was speaking during a debate on South Africa’s racial policy. The conference endorsed the federation national council's recommendation that sporting teams, chosen on a racial basis, visiting New Zealand be boycotted, and workers should withdraw their labour from establishments catering for such teams. If the South African Rugby Board wanted to test the strength of the F.0.L., it only needed to send a team to New Zealand, he said.

In his presidential address, Mr Skinner said that “the decision to exclude Maoris from South Africa was a political one, and not a decision made by New Zealand or South African Rugby authorities. “The federation has been accused of meddling in an issue which did not affect it but our national policy of racial equality is at least as important to us as the South African policy of racial inequality,” said Mr Skinner. The conference also agreed that the F.O.L. should strengthen and actively support policy on boycotting South African goods.