Much at stake in meat works negotiations today

Press, 10 April 1978, Page 6

Much at stake in meat works negotiations today

PA Auckland Today will be another crunch-day for the strikebesieged freezing industry. No stock will be killed for export, as white-collar workers in the industry go on a 24-hour strike.

In Wellington, a concentrated bout of wage bargaming will begin between the Federation of Labour and the Freezing Companies' Associ-

At stake are back pay for tradesmen and their assistants; tradesmen’s award increases for the coming yean and award increases for the

The president of the FOL. likely to represent the unions at each of the bargaining sessions. The clerical workers demand the same hourly allowance (50c) as that won by industry tradesmen aftei strike action late last year.

Today Sir Thomas will seek back-payment of the tradesmen’s allowance and

will reopen negotiations on I the outstanding matters of jthe tradesmen’s award. Tomorrow, he is expected to take up the clerical workers’ case. Both of these awards had been held back to allow the freezing workers' award to be settled. Already about 60 per cent of Auckland region butchers have very little mutton in their freezers. If the dispute is not resolved (and because of the clerical workers’ strike today virtually no mutton will be on sale to Auckland by Tuesday), the Auckland Freezing Workers’ Union is threatening to heighten the dispute by stopping beef and pork killing at the abattoir. It was hoped that informal talks between the union and Auckland City Council offi-

cials would settle the row today. Nationally, full work was expected to resume tomorrow to allow the clerical workers’ conciliation to proceed without an overhanging strike threat. If that conciliation hearing could not resolve the clerical workers' pay issue, it was believed that the issue would be put before the Industrial Commission. Meanwhile, trouble is simmering at various places — the Whakatu works near Hastings, the Alliance works at Invercargill, and the Auckland City council abattoir at Otahuhu. The Auckland abattoir — strike-free for eight years — has been affected since last Tuesday by a dispute over mutton-killing procedures.