N.I. drivers out tomorrow

Press, 7 June 1978, Page 1

N.I. drivers out tomorrow

PA Wellington National stoppages by drivers over award talks will be led by strikes in Wellington, Manawatu, and Wairarapa. Drivers in these areas will strike for two days from 8 a.m. tomorrow. Only ambulance services will be exempted from the strike, although the Wellington Drivers’ Union will consider emergency requests. The action will take al! trucks and some buses off roads in the affected areas until 8 a.m. on Saturday. However, South Island districts are not expected to be affected until at least next week. The joint restructuring committee of drivers and employers will meet again on Monday, and if no progress comes from the talks it is expected that drivers in the South Island will strike for two days. As well, there might be a national one-week strike. A stop-work meeting of Ashburton drivers

yesterday voted to support such a strike if other unions in the Drivers’ Federation also backed it. The secretary of the Canterbury Drivers' Union (Mr P. R. Liggett) said last evening that dates for a South Island twoday stoppage were secret, but might be released “next week or the week after." When Canterbury drivers met on May 29. they voted against any dispensations being given in the event of a strike. In. Wellington, the airport bus service will not run, nor will privately run suburban services. City council and railways buses are not affected: their drivers belong to different unions.

The secretary of the Wellington Drivers’ Union (Mr K. G. Douglas) said that the decision to stop work was influenced by the inability of the employers to reach a common position and make further progress on the wage case. The parties were still “miles apart.” he said.