Meat works trouble near?

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 6

Meat works trouble near?

PA Wellington Confrontation in freezing work*> looms larger after negotiations between freezing workers’ representatives and management made little progress yester-

day. Freezing company representatives stood firm by an offer made in December, which has already been rejected. Inion and management representatives will meet again on Monday, and the .Meat Workers’ Inion’s national secretary (Mr A. J. Kennedy) said last evening that that would be the deadline for reaching agreement.

••They have had our rock-bottom offer—and the

rank and file have made it clear that if they don't get it, there will be problems aplenty,” he said.

His union membership was ready to take direct action unless the offer was met.

Mr Kennedy would not say what type of direct action was contemplated, or when. But when he was asked if union officials would refer back to their membership in the event of Mondays talks failing, he said: “They have already told us what thev want to do.”

The union is seeking a 7.5 per cent wage increase backdated to December 22. It also wants last

year’s 7 per cent cost-of-living order incorporated into the award so that it will flow on to penal rates. And it has lodged an additional claim for 48c per hour for workers who do not receive productivity payments—to match the amount awarded to tradesmen’s assistants in a compulsory conference decision earlier in the week.

The employers’ December offer—repeated yesterday—was for a wage increase of 32c per hour, 17c of which was the incorporation of the earlier cost-of-living order. They claim this brings them to the limit of the 7.5 per cent increase they are allowed to pass on to

farmers, and that the industry cannot absorb any wage increase itself. The offer is not retrospective, although the present award expired on December 21.

Mr Kennedy said the Government had better access than unions or the public to information on the profitability of the freezing industry. All other unions which had sought pay increases since the pay freeze was lifted last year had received well over 7 per cent.

Clearly the Government believed freezing companies could absorb the costs of an increase above 7.5 per cent, he said.