Bus union defends its president

Press, 5 October 1977, Page 2

Bus union defends its president

The Tramway Workers' Union has denied allegations by the chairman of the Christchurch Transport Board (Mr M- O. Holdsworth) that it has been trying to influence the board 1 election. The secretary of the Christchurch branch of the union (Mr M. Dawson) said yesterday that the remarks by Mr Holdsworth were not true. Mr Holdsworth, who made the comments at a meeting of the board on Monday, said that the union wanted its president (Mr A. Kahi) elected to the board on the Labour Party ticket. Mr Kahi had purposely avoided giving any impression that he was using his position to further his campaign and, in fact, had played a low-key role, saidj Mr Dawson.

’ “If by taking a responsible i stand as a group of citizens • we point out short-sighted : policies and inefficiencies in management, then we plead ■ guilty to this charge,” he I'said. | It was regrettable that Mr iI Holdsworth had chosen to : make a personal attack on I Mr Kahi rather than repu- > diate charges made by the : union about the board’s handling of its affairs. i Answering criticism by Mr ; Holdsworth that Mr Kahi J had a “conflict of interest,” I; Mr Dawson said that a bus i, driver probably had more iiinterest with a board than an accountant. Accusations such as those made by Mr Holdsworth i were typical of the board’s ■ industrial relations and had 1 led to the worst period of I labour relations it had known, Mr Dawson said.