Notice Served On Glassworkers

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32382, 22 August 1970, Page 14

Notice Served On Glassworkers

- (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, August 21. The New Zealand Glass Manufacturers Company today served one week’s notice on 450 drivers and glassworkers.

A company spokesman said tonight that the stoppage by factory engineers had virtually brought production to a stop. Since work could not be continued, the company had no alternative but to serve notice on the drivers and glassworkers.

The eight-day-old stoppage has caused a severe shortage of bottles, and affects the supply of beer, wines, spirits, milk, soft drink, and jars. Breweries are expected to

begin rationing bottled beer by up to 50 per cent from Monday, and the chairman of Associated Bottlers Company, Ltd (Mr L. G. Piper) said tonight that the long-term effects would be more serious if the factory went out of production. Even if production was started again tomorrow beer supplies between now and Christmas would still be well down on last year.

Appealing to the public to return empty beer bottles promptly in order to ease the situation, Mr Piper said his company was now short of about 24 million bottles.

The men want a 15c an hour increase. Their present rates are from $1.37 to $1.39 an hour.

The company spokesman said the dispute began on August 14 when the factory engineers demanded an interim pay rise in the belief that they had lost their margins for skill after award increases granted to other workers.