Ministry of labour relations urged

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32522, 4 February 1971, Page 13

Ministry of labour relations urged

The Labour Department should be reorganised as a ministry of labour and productivity to concern itself chiefly with industrial relations, said Mr N. W. White at a meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday.

Mr White, an accountant, referred to problems created by what he termed rolling inflation, and said that there was no Government department to implement Government policy for manpower resources.

If the Labour Department was stripped of its ancillary services, such as weights and measures, and reconstituted as a ministry with an enlarged qualified staff, including economists, it would have the men equipped to deal with a situation such as the board had just been discussing in committee. “If the machinery is there, people can be made to see

that an industrial dispute can be handled by properly trained people,” he said. “A bureau of this type, thinking long term, would have a duty to create a progressive economic policy.” The general manager (Mr A. J. Sowden) said that he had just received a letter from the Harbours Association regarding the establishment of an industrial relations centre at Victoria University. This would probably come before the association’s annual conference. Sir George Manning said that Mr White should put his remarks in written form for members to consider. This course was agreed to.