STRIKERS IN DEFIANCE OF MINISTERIAL DIRECTIVE

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34030, 19 December 1975, Page 1

STRIKERS IN DEFIANCE OF MINISTERIAL DIRECTIVE

Bus drivers in Christchurch, and other main centres, will strike today in spite of a directive from the Minister of Labour (Mr Gordon) that they should return to work to allow conciliation proceedings io take place in the dispute about the employment of part-time drivers at peak hours.

An independent arbi-; trator, Mr E. G. Davey, a former Secretary of Labour, ruled yesterday after a compulsory conference called by Mr Gordon that work be resumed immediately! land continue uninter-1 Irupted until the dispute is settled. ' !■ This should be the case, he! said, in order to have the dispute dealt with by a conciliation council in trems of the Industrial Relations Act, according to a Press Association message from Wellington last evening. Mr Gordon was still; I “faintly hopeful” late last I

,evening that striking Wei-' [lington bus drivers would agree to return to work. He hoped that if the Wellington drivers did not vote to go back to work, sister unions would bring pressure! Ito bear on them to abide byi | the arbitrator’s decision. Heavy traffic Although there will be no! i buses running in Christchurch today, motorists will| ;not be permitted by the Min-' istry of Transport to park on bus stops. It is legal to pick! people up who are waiting: on the bus stops. Christ-1 church taxi companies will! work to capacity, and heavy , traffic is expected in central: Christchurch streets. ; Whole fleet The chairman of directors of Blue Star Taxis, Ltd (Mi l K. W. Peat), said last even-! ing that the whole fleet would : be on the road, although the! 245 cars would not be work-i ling for 24 hours because! ;drivers were not available.! 'The manager of Gold Band 1 ; Taxis, Ltd, said that a big percentage of its fleet of 62 cars would be working, but! the drivers could not work; longer hours than the regula- 1 tions allowed. “There is a; good chance that we will be 1 telling people that we are; booked up,” he said. Both companies will under- ■ take multiple hiring wherever; possible, although only two! fares are permitted at one! time in a single taxi. Mr Peat; said it would be a good idea! for people to "get. together”: themselves at taxi stands, when they had destinations! in the same area. ! i ‘Strike illegal’ Mr K. A. Chailender, Christchurch secretary of the. Tramways Union, said early! last evening that the strike w. .Id continue. Union members would hold a meeting at; 1 10 a.m. Mr Chailender was! I not available for comment' later in the evening. The manager of the Christchurch Transport Board (Mr M. G. Taylor) said that the union was wilfully flouting the Minister’s directive, and should be dealt with in the strongest possible way. ,

The strike was Illegal in that buses were regarded as

an essential service, and by striking without giving 14 days notice of the action, the union was liable to a fine of $4OO. "They are flying in the face of the Minister’s announcement,” said Mr Taylor. The striking drivers would definitely not be paid for today’s strike, nor would they be paid for last week’s stoppage, which was also illegal, Mr Taylor said. The cost to the board of today’s strike, in terms of lost revenue, would be about $15,000, he said, but this would be offset by about $6OOO in wages not paid. The board said earlier this week that if the union forced its demands, reductions in the service might have to be made. ‘Act upheld’ If rising costs could not be covered by fare and rate increases, said Mr Taylor, such reductions as the stoppage of Saturday and Sunday services would have to be: considered. This would save the board about $750,000 a year, and 30 staff could be put off. This would be an extreme measure — but he

hoped that this would not bej the case. Mr Davey said that the (Parties to the dispute should (meet in conciliation council at the earliest possible date.! He had made arrangements! for a conciliator to be available to chair a meeting of the' parties either tomorrow or on (Monday, according to the I Press Association. “In spite of any frustrations the union considers it | I has been subjected to by the employers, I believe the provisions of the Industrial Reia-| tions Act must be upheld, and , that in the public interest! bus services should be re-; stored immediately,” Mrji Davey said. In his report to Mr Gordon, j Mr Davey referred to a series ' [of stop-work meetings held|i by the Tramways Union and said that the union acknowledged that the Wellington | [strike was illegal. The union had said it was I not prepared to order theji men who had taken strike |< action back to work, because ,

■(if it did make this request, lit would not be accepted by ■ the men, who had voted oveiI whelmingly to go on strike. Mr Davey said that he had emphasised the seriousness of I the situation and, in an adjournment, had spoken to ■ union and employers separately in an attempt to reach some compromise, but without result. Relaxation . “It seemed to me that the (question of the employment of part-time drivers could (possibly be resolved by some relaxation on the number of [broken shifts which are alllowed under the award.” he said. “However, neither party was prepared to discuss this | in open conference.” Bus drivers in other main (centres in New Zealand will be on strike today, and in Auckland at the week-end buses will be further disrupted by what the drivers I are calling a lock-out by the Auckland Regional Authority.