Slaughtermen upset by ‘illegal’ pacts

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33963, 2 October 1975, Page 13

Slaughtermen upset by ‘illegal’ pacts

CV Z Press Association) WELLINGTON. The freezing industry would view with serious concern any move .bymutton slaughtermen to disrupt the beginning of the killing season, the executive director of the Freezing Companies Association (Mr P. D. Blomfield said in Wellington. Mr Blomfield was commenting on the report that' the meat export season mav! start late because of a dis-; pute over incentive payments! to mutton slaughtermen. "Mutton slaughtermen are already paid well and anyi further payments must be! linked to increased produc- : tivity,” he said. "It is necessary- to look' closely at the manning of: mutton chains and to relate: payments to productivity. Steps by the industry to look j at the relativity of’ all jobs i in the freezing industry, including mutton slaughtermen, are an essential part of any! reassessment of mutton I slaughtermen’s wages.” TALKS STILL ON Slaughtermen at the Gear; Meat Company's Petone i works have voted not to be!

available for the start of the' export season on October 8. | Otago and Southland 1 slaughtermen are taking the' same attitude, and other works may follow suit. The Wellington union secretary. Mr K. Findlay, today: refused to discuss or identify : the problem at Gear, except' to say that talks were con-: tinuing. DEALS MADE But the union's national secretary. Mr F. E. McNulty, said in Christchurch that the trouble at Gear and all other works was that mutton slaughtermen, still angry -about their exclusion as : pieceworkers from the 1973; 8.5 per cent cost-of-livingj wage adjustment, had had their relativity further eroded' by “illegal” incentive agree-! Iments. Mr McNulty said that in; attempts to increase produc-j itivity. employers were mak-i ling deals with sections of iworkers to the exclusion of (Slaughtermen. - “There are hundreds of ■these agreements, all of I which are outside the award and none of which has been i agreed to nationally.” he [said. “Even the Arbitration Court made comment about [these agreements, but the employers have continued with •them, made further agree-

ments, and created a differential in relativities between slaughtermen and other workers,” Mr McNulty said. MEETING SOON The national union had not made any decision to disrupt the beginning of the season, he said. Gear workers had initiated the present action but the union would meet employers in Wellington on October 16, about the time the season was expected to begin, he said. He hoped that the union would find some agreement with employers at this meeting. ‘NATIONAL INTEREST Mr Blomfield said that all incentive agreements needed ■studying, and he wanted union co-operation for this. There had been several I meetings between employees land unions under Govern- | ment chairmanship to discuss a revision of the freezing workers’ award and incentive payments. These talks were proceeding. “In addition, a special meeting to discuss mutton slaughtermen will be held in a few days. I think the whole matter will be resolved soon, and I can only appeal to mutton slaughtermen to think in the national interest before taking precipitate action,” said Mr Blomfield.