DARK ALLEGATIONS RIFE IN RUBBER INDUSTRY

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32903, 29 April 1972, Page 16

DARK ALLEGATIONS RIFE IN RUBBER INDUSTRY

(By our

industrial reporter)

Some idea of the competition now being faced by New Zealand manufacturers can be gained from a look at the rubber industry’. At the moment, half-inch rubber hosing is being imported duty-free from Japan and the price, f.o.b. at Japanese ports, is less than the price New Zealand rubber factories have to pay for the raw material.

New Zealand manufacturers mutter darkly about different specifications and imply that the Japanese product is inferior. Presumably the point will eventually be proved or disproved.

What would be much more difficult to prove, but must surely be the case, is that the Japanese cannot be selling their product as cheaply on their own market. In other words, they must be dumping in our market for the sake of the foreign exchange. CUTS AT FACTORY Partly because of the general recession, but also partly because of competition like this, Christchurch rubber factories have had a lean year. The man-hours worked at one factory for the first three months of this year were exactly half the hours worked in the same quarter of 1971. In cutting production to I this extent, the company had to forgo the replacement of staff who left, had to dismiss a few workers for redundancy, had to eliminate almost all overtime, and had to employ some of the staff on a voluntary four-day week as an alternative to more dismissals.

MALAYSIAN RIVAL Now the industry faces a further hurdle. Two weeks ago the Government removed rubber underlay for carpets from import control, and this can now be imported from countries like Malaysia and Taiwan at 15 per cent duty. With duty at that level, it can

be imported for less than the New Zealand manufacturers’ cost price.

In this case, the problem is not dumping but competition against cheap labour. The wage of a worker in a Malaysian rubber factory is one New Zealand - dollar a day. According to Christchurch manufacturers, anti-dumping legislation has not worked in Australia and tariff control has been no protection against exports from countries where the standard of living is much lower. The rubber industry in Australia,

they say, is reeling under an intensive export campaign from Asian countries, “and unemployment is stalking the land.” The manufacturers also contend that the Asian exporters do not hesitate to protect their own manufacturers from competition. As an example, they say that in Malaysia, where natural rubber is on tap, the rubber

manufacturer is protected by Government ordinance against competition from polyurethane. UNITED PROTEST In this struggle, management and workers are on the same side, and the national president of the Rubber Workers’ Union (Mr C. A. Hanson) has written in protest to the Minister of Customs (Mr Gair). Referring to the lifting of restrictions on importing carpet underlay, Mr Hanson said that three New Zealand firms were manufacturing the product, none of them was at full capacity, warehouses were well stocked and supply was clearly exceeding demand.

“It is difficult to comprehend what reasons the Government could possibly have for lifting controls at this time,” said Mr Hanson. “The

effects of this action are perfectly clear. “It can only lead to further redundancy in a work-force that has been prepared to produce around the clock on shift work, has accepted the necessity of having to work at incentive pace allowing maximum use of plant and machinery, and has created records in production year after year.

“These New Zealand workers,” said Mr Hanson, “are being asked to hand over their livelihoods to a foreign work-force in a distant overseas country.”