Works tradesmen wait for word

Press, 26 November 1977, Page 3

Works tradesmen wait for word

, Canterbury freezing works I tradesmen wili hold a stopwork meeting at Belfast on Mondav at 3 p.m. to hear a 'report from their representative on the breakdown in the latest talks on a productivity bonus for tradesmen. The talks are being heldbetween the Federation of' 'Labour executive and tradesmen's leaders and the Freezing Companies’ Association. South island tradesmen! wanted a $3 an hour bonus, and went on strike last I (month in support of the! claim. North Island tradesmen sought a $1 an hour ■bonus and imposed an overtime ban in support, which led to dismissals. The F.O.L. executive recommended a return to I work after assurances of. ••meaningful'’ negotiations on (October 19- Talks resumed (on October 31. but the dis-1 pute was not settled at that: meeting and the F.O.L. gave warning of another strike. At a meeting at Belfast on November 3, Canterbury! works tradesmen voted to! strike from November 8. But ’ the strike was called off; after the employers made an! offer of 50c an hour on top I of the 20c already agreed as' an interim measure earlier'. this year. Th? employers maintained that it was a relativity agreement rather than a productivity bonus, and limited it to skilled tradesmen. The F.O.L. also set up a national action committee to co-ordinate any possible industrial action arising if ( the dispute was not resolved ! completely after a furlher ! meeting held on November 24.

t At the talks the employers made no new offer, the i' e m p 1 o ye r s' spokesman 11 saying he had hoped that ■ common sense would have prevailed in the week since ■the employers' last offer : was rejected. I> A delegation of Whakatu 'and national meatworkers’ ■ union officials will meet the ■ Minister of Labour (Mr Gordon) at 2 p.m. on Monday to put their side of the dispute ; which has closed the works I in Hawke’s Bay for a week. •! The delegation will be ■ headed by Messrs F. E. ! ■ McNulty, national secretary, I of the union, and the national president. Mr R. ; Paenga, who is also presi-l rI dent of the East Coast! branch. Mr Gordon said yesterday! I that he couid not take any I action in the dispute until 'there was some assurance of .: a prior return to work. Mr Gordon earlier said I that he had changed his view of the dispute after' hearing some “quite ( -1 startling” claims from the( (union, including its request! Ifor $lOO a day remuneration.! i! “As I understand it, the! (parties at this stage have ragreed that I should not act precipitately and make no absolute decision before I Monday,” he said. The Whakatu dispute could escalate into a national series of strikes unless men there were re-employed, .■said a senior official of the Meat Workers’ Union last • evening. The secretary of the Wal nganui branch of the Meat ■ Workers’ Union (Mr W. • Simmonds), who is also a national executive member

and assessor said the union’s national executive was horrified by the works management which the union saysj has refused to take the dispute to a local disputes committee. Mr Simmonds said the (company had put forward an eight-point proposal which would give it ••autocratic” powers. Mr H. W. Smith,, hcairman of the Hawke’s; Bay Farmers’ Meat Com-; pany’s board of direct-( ors, said yesterday that its. terms for a return to work I were spelled out quite I clearly on Wednesday. "The company is merely I ;trying to achieve a realistic! through-put more in line! with the normal works ca-1 pacity of 18.000 lambs a day ' instead of the 15.000 a day I that could be achieved under; the present union restric- | tions and dressing] standards,” he said. At the same time, the ( company was allowing I (butchers to increase their I daily earnings up to $55 for '7l hours work, Mr Smith ( said. Wealthy Hawke's Bay I ; farmers who wanted a; showdown with freezing I workers were behind the I Whakatu dispute, said the I secretary of the Wellington | Meat Workers’ Union (Mr K. ( Findlay) yesterday. “They think that because! there’s heavy unemployment 1 in the district that the work-( ers will not resist anything I proposed,” he said. The works at Whakatu( has refused to put up stock | for killing since last Friday. I