Complete support for journalists’ claims

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32521, 3 February 1971, Page 14

Complete support for journalists’ claims

(By our industrial reporter)

Stop-work meetings have so far been held by the staffs of at least 13 New Zealand daily newspapers, and in every case there has been complete support for the New Zealand Journalists’ Association wage claims.

A meeting of “Christchurch Star” journalists began at 10 a.m. yesterday and continued —with a lunch break—for four hours. A meeting of employees of “The Press” was held last evening, beginning at 8.10 p.m. and closing at 9.15 p.m.

Other newspaper staffs which have endorsed the claims are those of the “Dominion” and the “Evening Post”, Wellington; the "Otago Daily Times” and the “Evening Star”, Dunedin; the “Taranaki Daily Times” and the “Taranaki Herald”, New Plymouth; the “Daily Telegraph”, Napier; the “Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune”, Hastings; the “Manawatu Evening Standard”, Palmerston North; the “Wairarapa Times Age”, Masterton; and the “Evening Star”, Greymouth.

The staff of the New Zealand Press Association have also stopped work to support the claims. The president of the New Zealand Journalists’ Association (Mr W. Page), flew to Napier yesterday to attend a combined meeting of the staffs of the two Hawke’s Bay newspapers; and today he will fly first to Nelson and

from there to Wanganui for further meetings. A stop-work meeting of the staff of the “Timaru Herald” will be held this evening. The journalists will resume negotiations with the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association in Wellington on Monday. The increases claimed by the journalists are mostly about 40 per cent, which they maintain is the amount needed to restore their previous wage relativity with a wide range of other occupations.