Strike hits N.Z. meat shipments

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34133, 21 April 1976, Page 3

Strike hits N.Z. meat shipments

(N.Z. Press Assn— Copyright) SYDNEY, April 20. Australian meat workers today placed a black ban on meat imported from New Zealand for sale in Sydney supermarkets. I The assistant Federal secretary' of the Australian Meat Industry Employees’ Union (Mr Jack O’Toole) said waterside workers and airport workers had also been asked to refuse to handle meat from New Zealand consigned to supermarkets. He said a four-week-old strike by 1200 New South Wales supermarket employees was in support of pay rates equal to those paid to employees in the meat sections of Victorian supermarkets. Mr O’Toole said Victorian weekly pay rates were from $lO to $3O a week higher than those paid in N.S.W. supermarket meat sections. He said that in N.S.W. supermarket employers had applied a recent 6.4 per cent increase to the minimum rate, while Victorian employers had applied it to the maximum pay rate. He said this must increase the gap between wages paid in N.S.W. and those in Victoria.