Desperate bid succeeds: no bank strike

Press, 21 December 1978, Page 1

Desperate bid succeeds: no bank strike

PA Wellington The threatened strike by bank officers, which was to have starter! today has been averted, the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, said yesterday.

The threat of a shutdown of New Zealand’s trading banks over the next two weeks was lifted late last evening after nearly six hours of talks between the bank employers and union representatives.

An agreement was reached just before 1 a.m., and the Bank Officers’ Union agreed to inform its members that the strike was cancelled.

Mr Bolger said that he had called a compulsory conference of the parties concerned in the week starting January 23. “Terms of reference will be mutually agreed to, and are almost completed,” he said.

Mr Bolger said that he would nominate the chairman of the conference, and he hoped to do this “as soon as possible.” He would nominate the chairman after consultation with both parties con-

cerned, “but this won’t be before the Christmas break.” Mr Bolger said that he was “naturally very pleased that the two parties have been able to reach a position to prevent the strike.

“And I’m just hopeful that when they go into the compulsory conference they will be able to make sufficient progress so that there will be no need for further contemplation of strike action to settle the award.” After the formula to prevent strike action was announced, the chairman of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association (Mr B. B. Dickinson) said that he was pleased “the customers and the business community could now enjoy al Ithe normal services made available over the Christmas and New Year period by the trading banks.”

The Bank Officers’ Union served strike notice on the Bankers’ Association soon after 12.30 p.m. yesterday after withdrawing its award claims from the Conciliation Commission.

The union had sought pay adjustments to recover lost relativity with trustee savings banks and clerical workers. Even before the strike was announced, banks reported that many people were taking out enough cash to tide them over the imminent closing of the banks.

Businessmen had planned protection of tomorrow’s takings over the Christmas period, and many businesses had deposited all but their running cash needs. In many businesses, instructions were given to accounting staff to bank the cash as it came in today.