Ferries stop again over wage freeze

Press, 27 July 1976, Page 1

Ferries stop again over wage freeze

Inter-island femes will not run today because of a 24-hour protest stoppage by the Seamen’s Union. It is the third time in a month that the service has been disrupted by industrial action. The ferries did not run last Wednesday because of a stoppage by the Cooks and Stewards’ Union, and were stopped for two days at the end of last month because of a strike by railwaymen and other employees against the Government wage regulations. The strike by the Seamen’s Union, which will begin at 8.00 am. today and end at 8 a.m. tomorrow. is in protest against the wage-freeze regulations and in support of negotiations by the Federation of Labour on a new award for drivers. The strike affects all New Zealand-manned ships, including the Rangatira. The manager of the Union Trave) Company (Mr E. L. McFerran) said yesterday that about 300 passengers and 60 cars would have to wait for tomorrow’s sailing of the Rangatira because of the cancellation of today’s sailing. “It makes a travel agent’s life unbearable,” he said, commenting on the three successive disruptions. Passengers scheduled to

sail in the ferries from Picton to Wellington who have already arrived at the ports will have to wait a day and a night before they can sail. Figures were not available last evening on the number of passengers booked in the Aramoana and Aranui and a Railways Department spokesman advised them to contact their travel agents. The Railways Department has suspended loading until tomorrow to try to clear the backlog of freight caused by last week's cancellations. The district traffic manager (Mr C. S. Roscoe) said yesterday that a decision would be made this morning whether a further delay would be needed. About 500 railway waggons were between Christchurch and Picton, waiting to be cleared, he said. The Seamen’s Union president (Mr Dave Morgan) said from Lyttelton yesterday that his union sees the F.O.L. attempt to break through the wagefreeze as. being important to the entire trade union movement. Ferry services, including the Rangatira, will be back on normal schedules tomorrow, the Press Association reports. The strike is the first to involve all union-manned ships wherever they might be in the world. The Seamen’s Union interest in the driver’s award negotiations is shared by

the trade union movement as a whole. It is being looked at as the “test” of the wage adjustment regulations tenth amendment, which provides for a movement in wages only through "exceptional circumstances” which may have arisen and affected the application of awards since June 30, 1975. Equally importantly, it will be watched as a test of the advice the F.O.L. national executive has given that the regulations make awards "wide open for negotiation." The F.O.L. president (Sir Thomas Skinner) is to lead the case for the drivers at a conciliation council in Wellington starting this morning. The Employers’ Federation advocate (Mr Phi] Oldham) will represent the Road Transport and Contractors Associations, and ancilliary emplovers.