“No ‘Chaos’ In S.I. Freezing Works”

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32274, 17 April 1970, Page 22

“No ‘Chaos’ In S.I. Freezing Works”

South Island freezing workers should be highly praised for the tremendous job they had done for the industry, the chairman of the South Island Freezing Companies’ Association (Mr J. A. G. Fulton) said in Christchurch yesterday.

The employers in his association were seriously concerned that recent criticism of the industry might be thought to apply to the whole country, said Mr Fulton. He could not speak for the North Island, but certainly there was no “chaos" or “disaster area” in the south. Mr Fulton’s remarks were made during informal discussions he and the secretary of the association (Mr M. B. Willyams), held with the secretary of the New Zealand Freezing Workers’ Association (Mr F. E. McNulty). The industrial reporter of “The Press” attended at their invitation. The three speakers agreed that there had been relatively few disputes in the South Island, that most of them had been settled without much loss of pay or production, and that, the industrial record of the South Island freezing works, far from being open

to criticism, was particularly 1 good. i Seven Years Figures During the seven years to , yesterday there have been 216 official disputes in the New j Zealand freezing industry, , but although nearly half the . works—l 6 out of 35—are in the South Island, only 37 of ; the disputes have taken place , in the south. Five of the 16 > South Island works have not: had a single dispute -in the j seven years apd only one, ; with a total of eight disputes, , has averaged more than one a ; year. But in the North Island seven works have had 140 disputes among them. Mr Fulton said that to the general public even the South Island’s number of disputes might seem excessive, : but this was not so when all ' the factors were taken into account. Hygiene Regulations The work tended to be un- , attractive and even unpleasant; and in older works especially, working conditions could be very trying, said Mr Fulton. Added to this, over the last seven years, and particularly over the last two, the men had been placed under real pressure to meet

the requirements of the hygiene regulations. Most people, he said, had no idea what these regulations required. Leggers, for example, had to Wash their hands and their knives 1700

times a day—once between every carcase they handled. “I believe—and I honestly believe this—that the freezing workers in the South Island deserve a pat on the back for their great response over the last seven years,” said Mr Fulton. Mr Willyams said that from the demands of the industry and the numbers involved—l 6 works and about 12,000 men—differences were bound to arise, and the hygiene regulations had placed stresses both on the Workers and on managements. “Often Difficult” “It is often difficult for the men to see reasons for the changes—and for that matter, it is difficult for the foreman to justify some of them—but they have had to be made,” said Mr Willyams. Where disputes had occurred, said Mr Willyams, South Island workers and employers had been able to keep the way open for continuing negotiations. Where there had been deadlocks between branch unions and managements, unions had promptly brought in district officials and managements had normally sought the advice of his association.

Apart from getting disputes settled promptly, this type of approach had been able to settle differences before they reached the dispute stage, Mr Willyams said.

Mr McNulty said that, to the best of his recollection, no South Island dispute since 1951 had lasted more than a week without being referred to the district level or to a disputes committee. In the north, disputes had become deadlocked on the local level. Congested Work Steadily increased output in older , works had resulted in congested working conditions, Mr McNulty said. However, employers had done much to improve conditions, and they had often had to make changes at short notice to meet the regulations. “No other industry has had to introduce so many changes in so short a time,” said Mr McNulty. “And face so much expansion at the same time,” added Mr Willyams. The popular impression of the freezing worker was a most unjust one, said Mr McNulty. A large proportion of the men had learned trades before they went to the works. “Basically,” said Mr Fulton, “it’s an industry in which men work well and earn good money.” Mr Willyams said the freezing companies believed in organised and disciplined trade unions, and preferred the difficulty such union could provide to the trouble that could occur where unions were not well disciplined.

“We’re used to the cold, hard facts of industrial life,” said Mr Willyams. “When other employers are faced with strikes they don’t know how to handle them. They say the system has broken down and they go to the Government to bail them out. “We’re used to a reasonable but determined approach from unions—used to getting questions that are hard to answer,” he said. The quality of industrial relations depended on the interest the employers had in the work force, Mr Willyams said. “In the best works men can go to the management and get a hearing right away. It’s rarely that this can’t be done.”

“Well,” said Mr McNulty, “1 can think of one recent case.”

“Yes,” agreed Mr Willyams, “but we’ve told that management what we think about it.” Chairman Praised

One of the last points made in the discussion was that the freezing industry’s national disputes committee, under the chairmanship of Mr C. H. Benney, had played a major part in improving, relationships in the industry. “Every company and every union nominates Mr Benney each time he comes up for reappointment,” said Mr McNulty. It was a pity that more companies and unions did not make use of the committee.