‘Govt called too soon’

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33512, 18 April 1974, Page 2

‘Govt called too soon’

(N.Z. Press Association)

WANGANUI, April 17.

Parties to industrial disputes were too readily using the Government as a surrogate mother to turn to in time of need, said the Under - Secretary for Labour (Mr Isbey) this evening. Parties should rely less on the “industrial firemen" —the Minister of Labour and his under-secretary —to quell the flames of discord. “We can only provide the necessary framework for conducive and harmonious relations,” Mr Isbey said. “We cannot be expected to stand by with whip in hand and say. get back and solve your problems responsibly.” SWEDEN CITED Much could be learned from Sweden, where the Government was rarely called upon, and where authority and disciplinary powers were exercised by the central trade union body and the central employers’ organisers.

This brought the power

back to where it belonged—directly on those involved in industrial relations. The new Industrial Relations Act contained many methods by which matters could be settled, and the act should be used. If greater sanity prevailed in industrial relations, employers, unions, and the public at large would be able to work together for harmony and understanding. HUMAN ELEMENT Mr Isbey said much of the blame lay with the policies i of the previous Government —policies which had led to unsatisfactory industrial performances which made it extremely difficult for employers and employees to cooperate voluntarily in establishing stable wages and prices. But he believed that the real significance of the “human element” in industrial relations had not sunk in. Technology had brought pressure on the country’s ■work force, and fears of job insecurity, and of skills becoming obsolete. “I have heard some people insisting that a certain amount of unemnloyment is i desirable, that job security

acts as a spur to greater productivity. "Others might argue that unemployment causes unions to lower their wage demands so that inflationary pressures are eased. “In my experience this is just nonsense,” Mr Isbey said. | “ALWAYS THERE” “Job insecurity and redundancy have always been a real threat to the economic well- j being of our work force and for that matter to work forces throughout the world. “These fears don’t stimulate i productivity and they don't | ease wage demands. They i breed resistance and contempt | towards change and spark in- ■ dustrial disharmony," said Mr Isbey. Unemployment was wasteful of human resources, and totally inefficient in terms of industrial production. Mr Isbey called for management to spend more money on industrial relations.; There was no sense in modernising plant and machinery unless management at the same time was prepared to modernise its attitudes toward industrial relations. The best way to achieve this was to give workers,a more positive role in decisionmaking. i