GOVT GIVES ULTIMATUM TO BRANCH OF RAIL UNION

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33588, 17 July 1974, Page 1

GOVT GIVES ULTIMATUM TO BRANCH OF RAIL UNION

(Staff reporters and N.Z.P.A.)

The Government has decided to give Christchurch railwaymen a second chance to return to work before any action will be taken to deregister the Canterbury branch of the National Union of Railwaymen.

The general secretary of the N.U.R. (Mr IN. A. Collins) and the national president (Mr J. Docherty) will fly to Christchurch this morning to tell an already-scheduled meeting of the branch that the men have until 11 a.m. todav to return to work.

If this ultimatum is ignored, the branch will be deregistered. After a four-hour meeting at Parliament last night, the Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) said the branch would be told of the new ultimatum at 10.30 a.m. today.

The meeting had already been scheduled and at this late hour it would not be possible to schedule an earlier meeting, he said.

Mr Watt said that the men would be expected to return to work immediately under the terms set out by the Minister of Railways (Mr McGuigan).

Mr Watt said that if this ultimatum was ignored, there would he no alternative but to deregister the whole branch of about 700 railwaymen, even though only about 70 of these, all shunters, had stopped work. Mr McGuigan, who was involved in the earlier stages of the meeting, and who later met the Prime Minister (Mr Kirk) and Mr Watt, said the conditions demanded of the men were an unconditional return to normal working conditions. If they wanted to take the dispute over the dismissal of a fellow worker to the appeal board, then that was their right, he said. But Mr McGuigan said that the shunter’s dismissal was an administrative matter to be handled within the department, ' not by the Government.

Mr McGuigan said that the Government could not just suspend the shunters involved in the stoppage, as the dispute was in the hands of the executive of the Canterbury branch of the N.U.R., and as such, the whole branch was involved.

The Minister emphasised that the Government would not allow troublemakers within the branch to become members again if the branch was deregistered tomorrow.

He would not specify how the troublemakers would be identified, except to say that it would be on the advice of the Railways and Labour departments. Mr McGuigan also left no doubt that the Government meant business. Asked if the Government would allow some leeway

after the 11 a.m. deadline, which would give the men effectively only 30 minutes to return to work after receiving the ultimatum, he said workers could be given some grace, “but as far as I’m concerned there won’t be much.”

Earlier today, Mr McGuigan said that he had asked Mr Watt to initiate deregistration action against the branch after railwaymen had ignored Mr McGuigan’s ultimatum to return to normal full work by 3 p.m. today. The meeting last night was attended by Mr Watt and Mr McGuigan and at various stages by N.U.R. representatives, and representatives of the Labour and Railways departments. At one stage Mr McGuigan left the meeting and after the House rose at 10.30 p.m. Mr Watt spent some time with the Prime Minister (Mr Kirk). 70 men About 70 railwaymen from the Christchurch and Middleton shunting yards ignored the threat of deregistration yesterday and told the department they would not work at least until after another union meeting at 10 a.m. today. The full membership of the branch is 850.

The railwaymen began a stop-work meeting about 8.30 a.m. on Monday and de-

manded the reinstatement of a shunter dismissed last week for “serious misconduct” connected with the derailment of some waggons and an inquiry to investigate the accident. The department has refused to give the dismissed man his job again and has reminded the union that he can appeal to the Railways Appeal Board. Long meeting The stop-work meeting was held almost continuously on Monday and went on yesterday until 4 p.m.

So far no other workers in the union nor shunters at Addington, who do the same work as those involved in the stoppage, have shown signs of acting in sympathy.

The union executive against which Mr McGuigan has acted is also facing a noconfidence motion from some of its members over its handling of the stoppage two weeks ago in support of the Northern Drivers’ Union.

One railways official said yesterday: “Over the last few years there have been a series of unwarranted stoppages over minor matters. The proper channels for solving disputes are there but the union just doesn’t want to use them."

Although all shunting movements are halted at Christchurch and Middleton, some goods are still being moved.

The Addington yard is being used by some trains. Perishable vegetables and tomatoes coming from the north and south were stopped at yards at Papanui and Timaru and picked up by truck from there.

Shunters for passenger trains have not stopped and no passenger trains are affected.