Story sets back journalists wage talks
PA Wellington The conciliation commissioner (Mr L. Fortune) declined yesterday to resume conciliation on the Daily Newspaper Journalists’ Award until there had been a ruling whether the New Zealand Journalists' Union had breached a section of the Industrial Relations Act.
He sought a ruling front legal' officers of the Labour Department on section 146 of the Industrial Relations Act after reading an article in the “Journalist” magazine.
The section of the act says: “Every person who prints or publishes anything calculated to obstruct or in any way interfere with or prejudicially affect any matter before a conciliation council is liable on con-i viction by the Arbitration, Court to a fine not ex-: ceeding $200.”
The latest issue of the' “Journalist,” the union magazine, carried verbatim j excerpts of discussions between the conciliator and. union and employer asseSsors during an earlier ses-i sion of the award negotia-; tions, which adjourned on May 25 until yesterday morning. It is believed that Mr Fortune was handed a copy; of the “Journalist” when he reached the Conciliation Commission offices from Christchurch yesterday morning.
After the adjournment thej matter was discussed in com-l mittee. Then the pay talks; were kept in committee. Mr Fortune’s action in declining to resume negotiations is believed to be unprecedented. There have been instances in past conciliation councils in which newspapers and other news media have been accused of obstructing award negotiations. But it is believed thati yesterday’s is the first in which there has been an in-'
vestigation to determine whether section 146 was deliberately breached.
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Press, 13 June 1978, Page 3
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263Story sets back journalists wage talks Press, 13 June 1978, Page 3
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