Bus union ‘trying to influence election’

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 2

Bus union ‘trying to influence election’

The chairman of the! I Christchurch Transport Board (Mr M. O. Holds- ■ worth has accused the Tramway Workers’ Union of trying to influence the local body elections. Mr Holdsworth told the board yesterday he assumed the union was “endeavouring to influence the election because of its interest in having its president (Mr A. Kahi) elected to the board as a Labour Party candidate.” He had earlier announced that the general manager of the Christchurch Transport Board (Mr M. G. TTaylor) would meet drivers’ representatives on Wednesday to discuss their rejection of the board’s request for an extension of broken shift hours.

“After the appointment was made (between Mr Taylor and the drivers) the union issued a statement directed at me, containing incorrect and misleading information,” Mr Holdsworth said.

“I can only assume they are endeavouring to influence the election because of their interest in having their president elected to the board,” he said. “In my view such a candidate has a clear conflict of interest, which is no less than that of the candidate whom the Citizens’ Associ-

ation had to withdraw from its Harbour Board ticket at the last election because his company had a contract of $lO,OOO with the same body,” he said. Mr Holdsworth also likened Mr Kahi’s position to that of “Cr Peter Skellerup when he was forced to resign from the City Council.”

Mr Holdsworth said Mr Kahi’s candidacy for the Drainage Board was an "entirely different" situation. He said that union officials from all over the country had attended last week’s stop-work meeting which had been called to discuss

local variations of the award. He said that the union had asserted the dislike of broken shifts was the problem, but a broken shift ort one route could be deleted if one man went only, four minutes beyond one limit, and another, eight minutes over.

Christchurch also had fewer broken shifts than Other centres, he said. In Auckland, Wellington, and New Plymouth, 60 per cent of the roster was permitted on broken shifts, compared with the local level of 50 per cent.