Meat dispute referred back to Mr Dempsey

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 2

Meat dispute referred back to Mr Dempsey

The meat-industry dispute over cost-of-living backpay for incentive workers has been referred back to the compulsory conference chaired by Mr J. W Dempsey. It is expected that the conference will resume in Wellington on Monday, ant the unions have agreed tc lift their load-out bans and other restrictive practices as soon as the conference re sumes. Three freezing works were closed yesterday because >1 load-out bans — Southdowr (Auckland), Longbum (Palm, erston North), and Maka rewa (Southland). A fourth. Ocean Beact (Southland), was closed because of a dispute about the washing of stock. The parties to the cost-of-living dispute decided on a settlement formula during the luncheon adjournment ol a sitting of the Arbitration Court in Christchurch. The Court was to hear ar application by the Freezing Companies’ Association under section 119 c of the Commerce Act. The procedure agreed by the parties is that the compulsory conference be re sumed as soon as Mr Demp sey is available; that al bans and restrictive practices by both parties be lifted upon the conference resuming; that the application by the employers under the Commerce Act be withdrawn; and that no party shall have counsel present at the conference. Judge N. P. Williamsoi granted leave for the applicants to withdraw the application under the Commerce

e Act, offering his cony gratulations to the parties is for their spirit of “good ie sense and compromise.” * With him on the Bench '• were Messrs V. P. Blakeley, for the employers, and D. ie Jacobs tor the unions. Mr H M B. Horton appeared for d the applicants, Mr S. C. ® Ennor for the Auckland and d Tomoana Freezing Workers’ 18 Unions, and Mr J. J. Cleary 5 * for the New Zealand Meat Workers’ Union. ’®l Under section 119 c, the Court had the power to ' n order a resumption of full p I work if it was in the public *' I interest At the outset, Judge Wil:h liamson told the parties that ht was grateful they had ie agreed to attend the hearing rather than be compelled to f * attend. He spent the moma ing discussing with the par's ties possible solutions to the dispute that would avoid the n need to hear formal evidence on the application. “I see the Court as a 8 representative of the comn munity in this matter,” he ie said. “It is a truism to say that the cost of unsettled iy disputes ultimately falls upon the whole community, "■ and I suggest the crux is I? either that you settle the .* dispute between you, or f agree on some method of j’ j settling it; and if that is pos- „ sible I invite you to conie sider whether industrial j. activity might be disconv tinued.” it If the parties did not agree on a course of action, m the Court would have to de-i-jcide whether it was justified i- in ordering a return to work. :eilf this were the case, the

■ Court would have no hesii tation in ordering it and I would expect the order to be obeyed, Judge Williamson i said. Mr Horton outlined the background to the dispute and submitted that it required legal interpretation to settle it. He suggested that the Court might appoint a legal referee who would be a Q.C. or barrister of high standing, to whom would be referred all the supplemen- ■ tary agreements at issue. I The referee’s opinion, en- . dorsed by the Court, would be final and binding, he said. Judge Williamson questioned whether this approach I would create problems of , relativity. [ “The Court is interested in . preventing this from becoming a running sore," said Judge Jamieson. Mr Cleary, for the Meat - Worker’s Union, said that there were hundreds of i agreements — some “little more than a wink and a nod” ■ —between a boss and a lead- ■ ing gang. I The suggestion of the ap- ; plicants would only per- , petuate existing anomalies, ; said Mr Cleary. Mr Ennor, for the Auck- ■ land and Tomoana unions, ' submitted that the matter should go back to the compulsory conference, ordered by the Minister of Labour ■ (Mr Gordon) on May 26. Mr Horton said that the ; chairman of the compulsory , conference had been given only the power to report I back to the Minister of Labour. The employers felt that

the chairman, with respect, lacked legal assistance, and was not legally qualified himself. If the compulsory conference were staffed to provide legal assistance, or if there were a new conference with a chairman with a legal background, such a conference would be acceptable to the employers, provided it was accompanied by a return to work. Judge Williamson: We appear to have support from both sides for a compulsory conference. Mr Cleary: With respect, your Honour, it just doesn’t get there. The unions’ concern is that this is a running sore that will get worse. If a lawyer, or even King Kong, were to give a decision where some workers got the payment and others did not it would lead to enormous eruptions. “The conceptions of how the parties see the conference should work are poles apart,” said Mr Cleary. He Said he could give no undertaking that the meat workers would return to work. Asked by Judge Williamson how much of the killing season remained, Mr Horton said that it was traditionally the time when the season was near its end, but it had been a bad season and there was still a lot of stock that farmers wanted killed, especially in Southland and to a lesser extent in Auckland. A figure had been given of IM stock on paddocks in Southland that farmers would normally have had killed. Ewes that would have gone to the works were still on farms, eating growth that would have been available for spring lambs. Southdown, Makarewa, and Longbum had closed because of lack of freezer space, and Mataura and Alliance would close in the next seven days unless the load-out bans were lifted. A further eight works would last between seven and 14 days before they would have to close, said Mr Horton. Continued on Page 4