Jobs or increases

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33778, 26 February 1975, Page 17

Jobs or increases

(N.Z. Press Assn—Copyright) SYDNEY, February 25.

The Australian Federal Treasurer (Mr James Cairns has at last offered trade unions the choice that New Zealand unions have been given for several months.

An immediate choice between unemployment and wages increases, or more jobs and wage restraint, is the offer made by the Treasurer. It is a choice that the New Zealand Government, notably the Minister of Finance (Mr Tizard), has been making

regularly since the major economic announcement was made and background papers were published in Welling-

ton last October. If trade union leaders wanted full employment, they must choose between jobs and wage increases, said Dr Cairns. If the rate of wage increase moved significantly ahead of the rate of increase in productivity, the result was not only increased costs but also unemployment. Dr Cairns said he believed unions were correct to seek full employment. The majority of workers had been “pretty well protected” from infiation by a Labour Government, even given the increases in prices and in tax paid on increasing incomes.

Dr Cairns joined the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) in blaming wage claims as being a major cause of the worst recession for 50 years. Meanwhile, Mr Whitlam’s call for wage restraint, which he made during a Tasmanian Labour Party conference debate on Sunday, has come under strong fire from unions.

Union leaders have suggested that if Mr Whitlam wants union co-operation he should address unions in more moderate language, and should call a meeting of top union officials to stake his position. . Mr N. Gallagher, Federal secretai. for the Building Labourers’ Federation, reacted strongly: "I am sick and tired of Whitlam flogging the unions. The employers are responsible for inflation and we do not intend to stop our union from asking for wage increases to match price increases.” The unions seemed especially annoyed that Mr Whitlam had singled out recent wage rises for women as con-

tributing heavily to inflation. The Government has said that a guarantee of wageclaim restraint is a prerequisite to the introduction of the price-linked “indexation” which is being sought by trade unions. Without such a guarantee, the Government would reluctantly have to drop its support for indexation, and so far it seems to be a long way from receiving such a guarantee.