Postal Go-Slow To Start On Monday

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32394, 5 September 1970, Page 44

Postal Go-Slow To Start On Monday

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 4. The Government had rejected the Post Office Association’s claims and there was no option but reluctantly to proceed with the go-slow, the president of the association (Mr J. G. Stapleton) said this morning.

The go-slow, described as the minimum industrial action to support claims for a return to parity between clerical and trades groups within the Post Office, will begin on Monday.

The Government obviously had no wish to start meaningful negotiations, Mr Stapleton said after a meeting of the association’s executive.

The reason members had originally decided on the goslow was because the Government had closed the door to negotiation.

“It made a paltry offer over one aspect of our claim to the Combined State Service Organisations on August 20, and stated quite firmly it was a final offer,” he said. “We turned this offer down and in an effort to get negotiations going again decided on a go-slow policy.” There had been further meetings this week and these had been attended by his association.

A letter setting out details of a further offer had been received yesterday afternoon from the State Services Coordinating Committee. “We were astounded to learn that the offer received this week was almost identical to the offer turned down by the C.S.S.O. on August 20,” be said.

“Not only has the Government not been prepared to meet us half-way, it has not even been prepared to move one step towards its employees. “We have a firm duty to our members to secure economic justice. We are not prepared to have 20,000 of our members lose up to $5OO a year because of the Government’s lack of reason. “The public should be quite clear that the association has fallen over backwards to try and avoid the necessity of having to take this action. But the Government, by its unreasonable stubbornness, is forcing limited direct action on us. It has broken the cardinal rule of good industrial relations—keeping people round the table—and it must take the consequences."

Minister’s Statement

The chairman of the Cabinet Committee on State Services (Mr Taiboys) said today: “They (the C. 5.5.0.) know that the matter can be referred to the State Services Tribunal, and that this is the constitutional thing to do.”

The chairman of the C.S.S.O. (Mr S. J. Rodger) said today the State Service organisations involved in the salary claim—the Post Office Association, the Railway Officers’ Institute, and the Public Service Associa-tion-had met with frustration and disappointment “In the last few days the employee representatives in negotiations have explored every possibility of getting a compromise settlement but the employing authorities and the Government have not moved;” he said.

The possibility of negotiating any reasonable compromise was being rejected by the employing authorities on the grounds of non-existent information on what were claimed to be outside rates. “At the same time the Government is ignoring the other criteria laid down in the legislation which provide substantial grounds for the claim we make,” he said. "The Government must and should have regard for margins of responsibility, comparisons with other occupations, and the need to attract and retain staff of the calibre needed to efficiently operate the services and functions of Government administration.” When Mr Talboys’s remark was referred to him, Mr Rodger commented: “The Minister’s reply shows him to be seeking refuge in arbitration and delay. Apart from the fact that the State Services Tribunal has not yet been set up under the 1969 legislation, it is spurious and premature to precipitate the matter into arbitration before the Government has made a genuine attempt to negotiate over the claim. “Members affected by the claim are not prepared to tolerate the lengthy delays which are inevitable in a tribunal hearing. They want salary justice now.”