Hint of militancy if Mr McNulty goes

Press, 12 January 1977, Page 4

Hint of militancy if Mr McNulty goes

There may be a swing to more militant tactics in the meat industry if the secretary of the Otago-Southland branch of the Meat Workers’ Union (Mr A. J. Kennedy) is elected national secretary of the union, according to the secretary of the CanterburyMarlborough branch (Mr W R. Cameron). Mr Cameron, who is also national vice-president of the union and president of the Canterbury Trades’ Council, said yesterday that Mr Kennedy represented a minority which advocated strikes and other disruptive action as the only means of solving industrial disputes. Mr Kennedy is challenging Mr F. S. McNulty for the national secretaryship in a triennial election of the union’s national officers this month. The president of the union (Mr A. R, Paenga) and the assistant national secretary (Mr J. Sneddon) were returned unopposed when nominations closed last December 29. Mr Cameron was replying to remarks by the president |of the Otago-Southland ’branch (Mr E. M. Miller) that it was time for a change because Mr McNulty had beI come weak. Mr Miller said last Monday that it was no use “having a nussyfooter around’’ and that “if we really want something. ; we wouldn’t mind staying out i for ever until we got it.” I Mr Cameron said that Mr McNulty represented most of I the union’s members, who defended on the meat industry for their livelihood. I “Mr Kennedy would represent a minority of members who have other sources of

>; income and therefore don’t ; • suffer as much through strike action,” he said. i “He has always advocated ’ a hard-line, but the bulk of ; our members cannot afford to go on strike at the drop ■ of a hat,” Mr Cameron said. It was unfair of Mr Miller J to raise the issue of political affiliation. Mr Cameron said. >;(Mr Miller said that Mr Ken- > nedv was a “Labour man” > and not a “Socialist Unity J member.”) Mr McNulty’s membership ■iof the Socialist Unity Party jihad no bearing on his work , las national secretary of the . union. Mr McNulty has been na- . tional secretary since the , union was formally estab,l lished about six years ago. , The challenge to his leadership is his second in less > |than a month. I Last December 9, he was . I ousted as secretary of the Trades’ Council , ’ by the secretary of the Canterbury Rubber Workers’ ; Union (Mr L. G. Morel). The latest challenge seems to ’[stem mainly from the union’s o recent backing down over its ’(claim for a $1.50 a day travelling allowance. Last November, a meat I workers’ 10-man action committee voted 6-4 in favour of '(a load-out ban on export * | meat until employers conII ceded the allowance. ■ I Mr McNulty, a member of tithe committee, adopted a (more moderate line and later r iwas instrumental in having f’the original decision res- . > cinded, a move that angered J some meat workers. What angered them even ’more was that Mr McNulty I had two private discussions s (late last year with the Minisf ter of Labour (Mr Gordon).

Opposition to Mr McNulty came particularly from the more militant OtagoSouthland branch and the Auckland Freezing Workers’ Union, which does not belong to the national union but is represented on the action committee. Men at the Whakalu Freezing Works in Hawke’s Bay. one of the largest in the North Island, pas-vd a motion of no confidence in Mr McNulty, according to union sources. Messis Kennedy and McNulty continued their campaign tour of meat works yesterday. They spoke to employees at the four Southland works. Mataura. Makarewa. Alliance and Ocean Beach (Bluft). Tomorrow they are due to visit the Smithfield (Timaru), Pareora (Timaru) and Fairfield (Ashburton) works. The two men are travelling together. They hope to visit the I remaining South Island works land most North Island works i before the end of next week. , The returning officer for j tfie election (Mr Brian Alderdice) hopes to have ballot I papers distributed to the | union’s 22,000-plus members |also within the next week, i Support for Mr McNulty ! came yesterday from the secretary of the Fairton (Ashburton) branch of the union i (Mr M. Pope) who said that ; he disagreed with Mr Miller’s views. Members of the Fairton branch were more than satisfied with Mr McNulty’s efforts and felt that the union had made “pretty good” advances. ; “As far as we are conjcerned. he handled the matter (of a travelling allowance) as well as he possibly could lin the circumstances,” said Mr Pope.