Oyster fleet not to sail

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33777, 25 February 1975, Page 2

Oyster fleet not to sail

fA'eto Zealand Press Association) * DUNEDIN, February 24. A wage dispute similar to that which curtailed oyster-fishing in Foveaux Strait last year is again the central issue of a Controversy between the Oyster Merchants’ Association and the Oyster Openers’ Union.

As a result of a secret ballot held by the Otago-South-land branch of the union, the members have been ordered not to report for work when the season begins next Sunday. Talks will be held in Invercargill this week between the two parties in an effort to resolve the dispute, which could cost the industry thousands of dollars. Bluff’s oyster fleet of 23 vessels will remain at the wharves until agreement is reached. Last season, three weeks fishing was lost while the oyster-openers were demanding a 32-per-cent wage increase. The secretary of the Oyster Merchants’ Association, Mr Maurice Christie, confirmed today that the openers were demanding a pay increase: the union had been offered an increase within the structure of the present wage regulations, and the merchants felt that the openers’ demand could not be met legally, he said.

The association was. seeking an opinion from the Labour Department.

An unofficial source says that the openers are again demanding a 32 per cent increase.

Excellent fishing was expected this year because the dispute last year probably allowed the oysters in the Fouveaux Strait beds to breed more freely.