Shops, and public, still in dark about two-day strike

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 1

Shops, and public, still in dark about two-day strike

Canterbury shop assistants may well vote at their stopwork on Thursday morning to strike for two days — some say if only to get two days off — and no-one knows what the consequences will he.

The main organisations representing retailers have been non-committal so far about how they will cope, ar ’ how the public will be served, especially in view of the long week-end. Some of their uncertainty may be dispelled after a meeting of the Canterbury Retailers Association this evening, however. The Dairy, Confectionery' and Mixed Business Association has also refrained so far from guiding its members about what action to take if the shop assistants strike. Its Christchurch president (Mr A. E. Mtecham) predicted that husband and wife dairies would stay open, but he was not sure what action other shopkeepers would take. Already, some supermarkets and other stores have put notices in their shops advising customers to shop early this week. The uncertainty has also affected Christchurch bakers. If the shop assistants — meeting on Thursday' morning in the Town Hall — decide to strike on Thursday and Friday (Friday and Saturdav in the case of New Brighton) supermarkets are expected to close, leaving the baking industry without its larger outlets. In any case, most large bakeries will have to start baking early on Thursday morning to cope with the Queen’s Birthday Weekend demand, and dairies could scarcely cope with all the extra bread. The secretary of the Canterbury Shop Assistants Union (Mr B. Alderdice) said preparations for the stop-work meeting were going well, and the union's petition was being well supported. Asked how compulsory attendance at the meeting would be enforced, Mr

Alderdice said that this would be for the members to decide. There are about 3000 members in Canterbury. and arrangements have been made for them to come by bus from outlying areas such as Ashburton and Rangiora. On the other hand, one Christchurch shop assistant savs that many employees will vote to strike at the stop-work meeting to gain an extended holiday weekend. Mrs F. M. Hill was unwilling to name the store for which she works, but says it employs about 300 assistants. “The hotheads are not thinking about the principle behind the Shop Trading Hours Bill,” Mrs Hill said. “Their only interest is in a couple of extra day's off work.” Most of her fellow workers are against the strike, but they would not have a chance to be heard at the meeting, “as the ardent unionists and pro-strikers would be in control.” “We are in a hopeless position,” Mrs Hill said. "If

day shopping will be insignificant.” said Mr Alderdice. He dismissed the suggestion that the rank and file would not be given the opportunity to speak at the meeting. “It is uppermost on our minds that everyone be given a chance to be heard, and Ftn sure the workers are right behind us. It will be the biggest and best gathering of shop assistants ever seen in Christchurch.” A meeting of the Otago Retailers’ Association yesterday did not support any change to the law on late closing hours, says the Press Association. It did, however, support an earlier opening time for retailers wishing to open at 7 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. The meeting also recommended that shops encourage staff to attend the stop-work meeting on Thursday morning. Whether or not shops would be closed during the stopwork has been left to the individual retailers.

we strike, we lose pay, and if we go to work, the firm will be blacklisted. It is a very dicey situation.” Mrs Hill also maintains that workers will not be paid for the statutory holiday at Queen’s Birthday week-end. because they will not have worked the two days before the weekend Mr Alderdice says though that the employees are entitled to be paid for the statutory holiday. He is confident that the majority of union members will support the call to strike because of their opposition to the bill. "They do not get paid well enough to take off two days without pay.” “A lot of workers are not yet aware that it is not just shopping hours that are threatened. There is no guarantee that evening and week-end penalty rates will be maintained. “If the amended bill becomes law, Saturday shopping will become widespread, and the present pattern of Monday-to-Fri-