Compromise on works

Press, 4 November 1978, Page 1

Compromise on works

industrial reporter Labour Department officials in Wellington have engineered a comptomise in the dispute over a committee of inquiry’s terms of reference. The dispute broke up the meat workers’ award talks in Christchurch on Monday. The Meat Workers’ Union threatened a loadout ban because it did not want wages to be included in the terms of reference of the proposed inquiry into lower freezing-store temperature sought by the employers. The employers argued that wages should be in-

eluded in the terms of reference.

Departmental officials have now put forward a compromise under which the committee will consider all aspects of chamber hands’ work, including wages. But when it makes its recommendations to the Minister of Labour (Mr Gordon) wages will not be included.

The compromise has been accepted by the union and the Freezing Companies’ Association. However, the North Island Freezing Workers’ Federation, which has three assessors on the panel of 10 union assessors for the award, has dissociated it-

self from the committee on inquiry. The secretary, of the Meat Workers’ Union (Mr A. J. Kennedy) said the federation had this right. He believed the federation’s action would not. prevent the committee from conducting its inquiry throughout New Zealand, including sheds under the federation’s jurisdiction in Auckland and Hastings. The award talks would proceed independently of the inquiry but if the committee made recommendations which might be inserted in the award, this could be done only by a joint application to

the Arbitration Court if the award had been settled in the meantime, Mr Kennedy said. The committee will have a recently retired conciliator, Mr M. J. Michael, as chairman, with one representative of the employers and one of the union. Mr Gordon said the inquiry had been set up on receipt of advice that the unions are withdrawing their notice of a proposed load-out ban.

“I trust that the good will engendered in the industry in recent' months will now extend to the completion of negotiations and the conclusion of the award,” Mr Gordon said.