Six-Day Strike To End Today

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31178, 30 September 1966, Page 14

Six-Day Strike To End Today

The six-day strike by 53 loom pattern setters at the Carpet Manufacturing Company’s Riccarton factory has ended. They will return to work at 8 a.m. today.

The secretary of the Riccarton branch of the Woollen Workers’ Union (Mr P. McGinn) said last evening that a discussion between the union and management after a stopwork meeting of 325 workers made a return to work possible on amicable terms.

Yesterday’s stop-work meeting decided that further consultations should be held between union and management.

Mr McGinn said that negotiations would begin on Tues-

day morning to improve the old bonus rate for setters. The bonus system for the whole of the factory would also be looked at.

The company had agreed to extend the working of the old bonus rate till full agreement had been reached on a new bonus rate.

“This was satisfactory to the union and the setters,” said Mr McGinn. Mr McGinn said that the management had agreed to pay the workers while they attended yesterday’s stopwork meeting. He estimated that had the strike continued it would have cost the firm £l5OO a day in wages without any carpet production.

The factory manager (Mr D. R. Hindson) said that his company was always prepared to negotiate on the bonus scheme.

He said he believed the pattern setters would be back at work this morning.