Chairman warns bus men after talks fail

Press, 9 April 1977, Page 12

Chairman warns bus men after talks fail

I Christchurch Transport I Board bus drivers will be i the ones to suffer if I employers’ demands in the i present award negotiations 1 are not met, the board’s ! chairman (Mr M. O. i Holdsworth) has told a I meeting of the board. I His remark was made ! during discussion at the j board’s monthly meeting ! about award talks with j the Tramway Workers’ I Union, that have again ' broken down. , “Unless flexibility can I be built in, the board's I services are going to suf- | fer through increased ; costs. We are right at the >' crossroads,” he said. “If we can't also hold the present decline in passenger patronage, drivers will have to lose their jobs. If in 10 years time there has been a 20 per cent drop in patronage, there are going to be 20 per cent fewer drivers.” Mr M. G. Taylor, general manager of the board, said agreement had been very close at the last j round of conciliation talks i on Monday.

“I know certain branches of the union would settle. Certain others won’t.” “The union's stand can only be seen as a deliberate ploy to circumvent the working party agreement — a working party that the union contributed to equally with the employers — whilst still expecting to obtain improvements in allowances and conditions that can only be contemplated by the employers if greater flexibility" in the utilisation, of labour can be achieved." Award negotiations have been going for almost 18 months, and are stalemated over one aspect of them. The dispute centres round the union's claim to improvements in _ shift allowances and conditions. These will be granted by employers only if the union agrees to “flexibility” — greater availability of labour and relief from restrictions on hours of shift work. When the talks broke down last year, a special working party of represen-

tatives from both sides was set up, and reached an agreement. Since then, however, conciliation talks have twice failed because of disputes between the two concerning inclusion of the working-party agreement in any settlement. When they met in March, the union accepted an offer from the employers, provided the agreement was not included. This was not agreed to. Last Monday, another round of talks took place, when employers made another offer. The union agreed to accept the joint working-party agreement if it were qualified so that local branches could control implementation of its provisions. Employers felt that in essence the union was claiming the power to veto the new provisions. They had made the offer on the understanding that it would be incorporated without modification in any settlement, so the proceedings were again adjourned.