Aid sought for sacked Longburn workers

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 2

Aid sought for sacked Longburn workers

(Xew Zealand Press AssociatioiV

WELLINGTON, February 20. The financial plight of more than 80 workers dismissed from the Longburn freezing work’s beef boning-room a week ! ago has been taken up bv the Manaw'atu Trades Council.

Today, more than 60 i of the workers went to ’ Wellington from Palm- ’ erston North to picket the company’s head 1 office. 1 i Trades council representa- .1 tives today met representatives of the Palmerston North i district office of the Labour 1 Department and the Social i Welfare Department. i But the president (Mr J. Smith) described the talks , about the eligibility of the i workers to collect unemploy-i ment benefit as an exercise i in futility and duplicity. I “NOT NEW" 1 "It is quite apparent that while the local district officer 1 could understand the human suffering which could accrue ' from workers’ families hav-i 1

ing no income, the advice, received from head office was that irrespective of the workers having been summarily dismissed en masse, they would receive no benefit. and in fact are deemed to be on strike.” Mr Smith! said. t 11 “The employers’ policy of starving workers back to; work with the apparent approval of Government departments is not a new tactic. But blatantly to lay the re-i sponsibility at the door of the sacked workers is a rather curious way of interpreting the penalties as contained in the Industrial Relations Act.” The trade union movement; must look at the mass dismis- ! sals with a view to ensuring . that they did not happen! again, he said. 11 SIX WEEKS It is believed that the dis-j i missed workers are being ii treated as voluntarily unem-li ployed and are not eligible;, for unemployment benefits 1 for six weeks. The workers < registered as unemployed in Palmerston North earlier this l week. ! ■ More than 60 of the sacked workers travelled to Welling- ' ton today and picketed the head office of the Co-opera- ' tive Wholesale Society fori' about three hours. A deputation met the society’s general manager (Mr G. Trower) and the two parties will meet again on Monday. Neither Mr Trower. nor the secretary of the Wellington branch of the Meatwork- , »rs’ Union (Mr K. R. A. Fin-

Jay) would comment further on the meeting. < However, Mr Finlay and the president of the union (Mr s R. G. Middlemass) will mee’ r the Minister of Labour (Mr Faulkner) tomorrow morning. I The workers were dis- 1 : missed when negotiations for a new incentive agreement 1 for the beef boning-room £ ; broke down last week after 5 ; months of negotiations. *