STALEMATE AND SLOW KILLING

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32234, 28 February 1970, Page 12

STALEMATE AND SLOW KILLING

Pre-conciliat ion talks in Christchurch between the freezing companies and freezing workers ended yesterday in a stalemate.

The employers' advocate (Mr J. Murray) said negotiations would be resumed in Christchurch on Wednesday—but only if normal work was then

being carried out in all works—and the workers’ advocate (Mr F. E. McNulty) said the reduced killing rate would be resumed in all New Zealand works on Monday.

The Conciliation Commissioner (Mr S. W. Armstrong) said last evening that he was still hopeful the two parties would get together on Wednesday.

“There’ll be a lot of money lost if they don’t,” he said.

Mr Armstrong has to take a conciliation meeting in Dun edin on Monday, but he will return a day earlier than he had intended in an endeavour to set up a meeting between the freezing companies and workers on Wednesday.

“BEST GIVEN” Mr Murray, secretary of the New Zealand Freezing Employers’ Association, said the offers they put forward’ in Christchurch were “the best proposals freezing work-! ers have been given.” These’ were:

That negotiations for a new: award for all freezing; workers should start on. Monday; That the new award would; give all workers pay tn-| creases, and the mutton j slaughtermen would bej offered bigger increases than other workers:

That the wage increases would start on the day’ the new agreement was) signed, except that those: for mutton slaughtermen would start earlier if this were mutually agreed or! decided by an indepen ■ dent arbiter: and That in the negotiations the employers would raise only a limited number of • points other than those relating to wages—such things as disputes procedures. containers and hygiene matters. Mr Murray said he thought the union representatives at the n- gotiations would find it most difficult to explain to their members why they did not accept these proposals.

“AMBIGUITIES" Mr McNulty said the employers' proposals were full of ambiguities. The workers insisted that the pay rates for mutton slaughtermen should be settled before any other negotiations were started, and that the increase for slaughtermen should be dated from the start of negotiations.

“The employers want us to bargain away our conditions in return for pay increases,” he said. “That's what they mean when they talk about matters relating to disputes procedures, containers and hygiene.”

Mr McNulty said that mil-: lions of lambs were still to be killed and unless some-! thing was done quickly there would not be enough slaughtermen left to process them Then all freezing workers would suffer. In reply to a request from. Australia, said Mr McNulty.’ he was advertising in today's issue of “The Press” for 50’ slaughtermen, and that would mean another 50 gone from New Zealand. Mr McNulty repeated an earlier claim that the employ-’ ers' negotiators were not empowered to make decisions. “They’re still sending boys glong,” he said. “Mr Murray told us at the meeting today that he was under instructions”

The secretary of the South Island Freezing Companies’

Association (Mr M. B. Willyams) said last evening that the employers’ negotiators did have power to make final agreements. Their only brief was to get the best deal they could for the companies. “We’re a tough group of' employers.” said Mr Willyams. “We have to be. We’re dealing with a big industry and a lot of money. But we

don’t want our wages to be below those of other workers. Otherwise you don’t get the workers.

“We recognise that the freezing unions have been caught by the two-season award, and other workers have gone ahead. That’s why we're prepared to negotiate the new {ward now instead of in four months time. We've told the union we know they have a case.

“We also recognise,” said Mr Willyams, “that the mutton slaughtermen have a special case. And not just these men, but all the pieceworkers.

“But at previous meetings the unions would not accept less for the hourly workers than for the slaughtermen. For the last award, we tried to offer a different rate to piece workers to keep their percentage the same as the other workers. “We looked up the minutes of those conciliation proceedings yesterday, and on; November 19, 1968, the secretary of the North Island Freezing Workers’ Federation (Mr T. Collerton) said: ‘We won't accept a different rate of increase for hourly workers and piece-workers—l told you that this morning’.”

“So where does that leave us?” asked Mr Willyams.