Longburn Not Settled; Minister Disappointed

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32266, 8 April 1970, Page 1

Longburn Not Settled; Minister Disappointed

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 7. The Minister of Labour (Mr Marshall) tonight said he was disappointed that the compulsory conference on the Longburn freezing works dispute, completed today, had failed to reach a settlement.

“I am awaiting the report of the chairman of the conference, (Mr H. L. Bockett), and will decide what further action can be taken in the light of that report,” he said.

The employers put two proposals to employees at the conference in Wellington yesterday. Either of them they

could accept, the general secretary of the North Island Freezing Companies’ Association (Mr J. B. Walton) said today.

One proposal involved work starting tomorrow, and the other involved work starting on Monday, April 13. These were alternative proposals, each of which Were open to acceptance by the union, he said.

Both proposals involved, in one form or another, preliminary talks on an incentive bonus scheme for boning-room workers, followed by full talks between the parties on the same subject. The union was to undertake that there would be a genuine work

effort by the workers in the boning room while these talks were proceeding. "The union was also asked to give reasonable assurances that disruptive tactics which had forced the management to close down its operations on March 25 would cease and this, ft appears, they were prepared to do. No Arbitrator

“However, the likelihood of an agreement of the resmuption of work became remote when the union representatives failed to agree to a final arbitrator in the event of negotiations on the incentive bonus scheme for the boning room not reaching finality,” he said.

“The employers’ proposals both stated that, failing complete agreement on this issue, the matters still in dispute should ' be referred to the Freezing Industry Disputes Committee as final arbitrator as soon as possible.”