RAIL TRADESMEN TO STRIKE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31362, 6 May 1967, Page 1

RAIL TRADESMEN TO STRIKE

Offer Of New Margins Hearing Rejected

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 5. A further meeting today between Cabinet Ministers and the leaders of the Railway Tradesmen’s Association failed to avert the strike which will stop the departure of all passenger and goods trains and railway buses after midnight on Sunday.

Another hour and 20 minutes of negotiations failed to solve the dispute over the refusal of the Government to pay railway tradesmen both the 6d an hour skill margin awarded them by the Railways Tribunal and the 7d an hour margin that has been revealed by the annual February survey of ruling rates paid by employers to tradesmen in private industry.

At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Combiner State Services’ Organisation (Mr W. E. B. Tucker) revealed that the Government’s offer to the R.T.A. had been to resubmit the skill margins issues to the Railways Tribunal. This the railway tradesmen’s leaders rejected.

The R.T.A. had counter-offered to submit 4d an hour of the tribunal’s award of 6d an hour to the tribunal for reconsideration, but the Government had not accepted this offer.

After the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Marshall) announced in a statement: “The Government is prepared to immediately refer the dispute to the Railways Tribunal and abide by its decision.” He said that the Government’s offer of yesterday was “most constructive” and contained proposals fair to the R.T.A. members and to the whole community, especially ether tradesmen in the State services and industry." The Government had abandoned its proposals for separating the trades and paying differing rates to different trades, he said. The Government had also revoked its decision to amend the law on future “ruling rates” surveys It offered that after consultation with the C.S.S.O. it would refer wagefixing procedures to a Royal Commission.

At today’s meeting on the Government side was Mr Marshall, the initiator of the ruling rates survey system of State servants’ wage adjustment over 15 years ago. He is now chairman of the Cabinet committee on Government administration. With him was the Minister of Railways (Mr Gordon). On the State employees’ side were representatives of the nine bodies represented in the Combined State Services’ Organisation. Beside th eßailway Tradesmen’s Association these comprise the Public Service Association, the Engine Drivers’, Firemen’s and Cleaners’ Association, the Railway Officers’ Institute, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the Workers’ Union, the New Zealand Educational Institute, the Post-Primary Teachers* Institute and the Post Office Association. Heading the representatives of these bodies was Mr Tucker, who is also president of the Public Service Association, and its secretary, Mr D. P. Long, who is general secretary of the P.S.A. Mr Tucker said: “The railwaymen already have the Railways Tribunal's decision on their side. “We are going away to think about it now. We have no further appointment with Mr Marshall or Mr Gordon, but we are available at any time between now and Sunday." After the talks failed the C.S.S.O. made these points in a statement:—

The Government told the railway tradesmen to take their margin for skill case to the Railways Tribunal. They did so and the tribunal thought their margins inadequate and made the

order for an extra 6d an hour.

It now transpired that the Government was not prepared to abide by the tribunal’s decision.

“No Reason”

The statement said that the employees* organisations saw no reason why they should now have to submit their ease again to the tribunal merely because an annual “ruling rates” survey, foreseen at the time of the decision, had intervened.

“It is the Government’s failure to abide by the decision it initiated, and its insistence on the matter going back to the tribunal, which seem to be inevitably leading us to direct action on the part of one of the organisations affected, the R.TJL,” the statement said. “The Government’s offer maintains the insistence that the margins increase so recently awarded must be reconsidered by the tribunal. It maintains this in spite of the fact that the effect of the survey increase, even if the 6d is preserved, is to reduce rather than increase the percental margin for indentured tradesmen. Govt. Rethinking “The offer also shows that the Government is prepared to rescind its earlier threat to change the legislation if the tribunals do not accept its view. This is coupled with the suggested setting up of a Royal commission to study the wage-fixing provisions, though the Government has indicated that it would be prepared to negotiate some

other for reviewing these provisions. “Leaving on one side in the meantime the proposed investigation or review of the wage-fixing provisions, the organisations welcome the rethinking on the part of the Government of its earlier intention to go ahead and change the legislation. “But just what form of a concession is it on the Government’s part to have now decided that a decision it had earlier taken is completely untenable?

While claiming that it has Itself made concessions—and these we have shown to be inconsequential—the Government holds that the employee organisations have not been prepared to concede any points. The combined organisations have already retreated on their claim to have the increase granted by the Railways Tribunal extended to indentured tradesmen in the other services, a claim entirely justified in accordance with earlier practice.

“We are prepared to leave this to be decided by the Government Service Tribunal. Likewise, the combined organisations have been pre-

pared to leave for further negotiation (or decision by tribunal) their earlier claim to have the increase applied to all persons doing tradesmen’s work.

Suggestions “Much as we consider the Government’s insistence on referring the issue again to the Railways Tribunal to be unjustified, we have explored possible avenues in this regard. We have suggested that the Government leave the margin intact for the normal life of an order of the tribunal—one year. “Alternatively, we have been prepared to consider the submission to the tribunal of the balance of the survey increase excluding the general wage order content of 2J per cent to which we consider we are entitled as of right. The Government has today rejected both of these possibilities,” said the statement.

“The intransigence and stubbornness of the Government are shown in its refusal to make any real concession to date.

“One might even think the ' Government welcomes the ' strike as a diversion from its economic measures. It is in- ' deed regrettable if the Government is prepared to allow the loss to the economy, and the extreme inconvenience to • the public—inevitable if the . stoppage proceeds for reasons • of political expediency,” said ■ the organisation.