NIL REPLY TO ABATTOIR MEN

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32298, 16 May 1970, Page 1

NIL REPLY TO ABATTOIR MEN

Sixty-five abattoir by-product workers who demanded an increase of 21c an hour last week were given their answer yesterday. Nothing.

Employed by Canterbury Bye Products, Ltd, the workers were told that with, bonus payments and allowances they were already receiving much more than the award.

When the company's man aging director (Mr K R Churchward) met representa tives of the workers yester . day he presented them with an analysis of the last six: weeks pay received in each of the workers’ categories, i The records showed that in many instances the staff were( receiving more pay than| freezing works employees, doing the same work. Labourers were receiving $1.15 an hour and semi-skilled workers $1.24. Mr Churchward said he had: asked the workers to “bomb me down if they could” and' told them it was in their: interest to do so. He said it! was in the company’s interest! for its staff to be well paid,! but after looking at the figures he could not make any: concessions at all. Claim Welcomed j “1 welcomed this in some respects,” Mr Churchward said later. “It enabled me to show them just what they were getting.” The Canterbury Bye Products workers made their demand on Friday of last week and their representatives accepted a request from Mr Churchward that he be allowed a week to consider the request. Later that morning the workers walked out in protest at not receiving the increase immediately, and they threatened to stay away for a week. As their duties tn-j elude the daily removal ofi fat, bones and offal from the Christchurch city abattoir,! this could have affected the city’s meat supply.

that there would be further meetings with the employers, ' but they would be with a (view to getting benefits already held by the Bye Products workers written into the award, which covers other i workers in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

On the Monday, however, t the workers returned to work after being addressed by their union secretary—Mr S. Arnst.l of the Canterbury Freezing Workers' Union—who had not been consulted about the walk-out. Mr Arnst said yesterday