Customs officers seek meeting

Press, 8 September 1976, Page 13

Customs officers seek meeting

PA Wellington Customs Department boarding and prevention officers have asked for a meeting with the Minister of State Services (Mr Gordon) to discuss their proposal for an independent commission of inquiry into the service, a spokesman for the officers said in a statement. They have also rejected the charge that they were using “an emotional smokescreen,” made by the Controller of Customs (Mr J. A. Kean) after Wellington officers criticised the administration of the service last month and said it was not geared to combating the increase in hard narcotics smuggling. Similar criticism has been reported in Auckland. In a reply to Mr Kean’s statement of August 19, the officers' spokesman said: “Our main points of concern are the lack of staff, particularly in Auckland port and in the North Auckland area, and, second. job fragmentation with the use of clerical officers, which has had an adverse effect on job satisfaction and career prospects and has seriously affected the morale of the service.” On the controller’s comment about the use of “an

emotional smokescreen to advance the claims of one group of officers in what is essentially a longstanding industrial dispute,” the boarding and prevention officers say this was a demarcation dispute over long-estab-lished boarding officers’ jobs at Wellington Airport being replaced (in 1973) by untrained clerical officers on 18-months rotation. “A few days after our meeting, the clerical officers held a meeting with the commission and unfortunately it appears that they were told something different. “The proposal could be the basis of an agreement, but owing to the unsatisfactory situation the officers have requested a meeting with the Minister of State Services so that the matter of an independent commission of inquiry can be discussed.” The boarding officers also took issue with the statement by Mr Kean that they were involved in only 82 of the 247 seizures of illegal narcotics by customs staff in the 12 months up to March 31. “The seizures made by boarding and prevention officers are made after many days of labour-in-

tensive rummaging, and are not just picked up in passingers’ baggage or in parcels post,” they said. “The boarding and prevention officers called for an independent inquiry in September, 1973. into the administration of the service with a view to putting it under a separate head. The position of the boarding and prevention officers has not changed. “The controller said that we concurred with the proposal for the matter to be considered by a State Services Commission review team. This is not correct. The boarding and prevention service clearly stated that this proposal did not go far enough, though we wpuld fully cooperate with the review team. “The review team’s report has been examined by the boarding and prevention officers and has been rejected. “A proposal was discussed by the boarding and prevention representatives with the commission on July 16. The proposal was in essence to provide a strong prevention service to cover all ports, including airports, and this is acceptable to the boarding and prevention service officers.