Tongariro Scheme CONTRACTMAY SOON BE LET

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31305, 27 February 1967, Page 1

Tongariro Scheme CONTRACTMAY SOON BE LET

(From Our Own Reporter>

WELLINGTON, February 26. The Government may soon announce the award of a contract to Codelfa-Cogefar, a Milan combine, for two Tongariro power scheme tunnels, together worth about £2O million.

The Ministry of Works was last week reported to be getting ready formal contract notices and papers after the receipt by the Government on Thursday of a revised agreement between CodelfaCogefar and the Federation of Labour on job wages and conditions.

The agreement, in the form of a composite award, is said to run only until November 7, when it would be reviewed. It is believed to incorporate several amendments made at the request of the Government.

Late last year the Government set next month as the deadline for the contractorsdesignate and the federation to reach an “acceptable” agreement providing for labour costs which, in general, would not exceed those prevailing on the Manapouri power scheme. After a major dispute over

state “interference,” an agreement was reached toward the end of the year. But negotiations have since been held up on several points on which the Government was still not satisfied. The federation’s president (Mr T. E. Skinner) said last week that wage rates included in the award were “more than comparable” with those at Manapouri. The Minister of Works (Mr Allen) said at the week-end that he had not seen the latest draft of the award.