Now no point to tunnel cases —union leader

Press, 2 April 1979, Page 1

Now no point to tunnel cases —union leader

The Christchurch-Lyttel-ton road tunnel changed hands quietly yesterday, after settlement on Saturday of the dispute over future working conditions and redundancy for tunnel staff. Now that the Road Tunnel Authority had gone out of existence, there was no purpose in the prosecutions proceeding against three tunnel officers arrested on Friday morning, said the secretary of the Canterbury Trades Council (Mr L. G. Morel) last evening. Asked if the Trades Council had received any assurance on prosecutions, Mr Morel made no comment. The commander of the Chrsitchurch police district (Deputy Assistant Commissioner G. E. Twentyman) said last evening that he “had not determined any course of action in relation to the matter” of dropping prosecutions. The three men, charged with wilfully trespassing on the premises of the Tunnel Authority and refusing to leave when asked, were remanded to April 6, when they appeared in the Magistrate’s Court last Friday. A formula for redundancy, severance, and gratuity payments to 33 staff was settled during 11 hours of negotiations which ended on Saturday morning. The details have gone forward for approval from the Arbitration Court. The total cost is expected to be about $170,000, including gratuity payments of $38,943. Thirteen men, eight of them over retirement age, have lost jobs. Redundancy was settled at 2.5 weeks pay for each year of service. Eleven staff members will stay at the tunnel employed as tunnel wardens by the Ministry of Works. Six others have been placed in jobs with the Ministry, either involving the tunnel or elsewhere. Included in this number is a typist, who will be employed in a temporary job for the time being.

Two executive members of the authority staff will go to jobs in the Ministry, and a third, to the Christchurch City Council. Gratuity payments for staff members with more than 10 years service range from $l6OO to more than $2200.

Mr Morel last evening described the settlement as excellent for all persons involved, particularly regarding future employment. He said that the tunnel workers were all happy with what they would receive. He laid much of the blame for the confrontation last Friday with senior members of the Road Tunnel Authority. Mr More’ said that the authority should have pursued the Government and made arrangements over redundancy pay and future employment for its staff, before the dispute “blew up.” Instead, members had taken “a negative approach,” and had blamed Government departments for delays, Mr Morel said. The two authority members who were involved in the negotiations on Friday and Saturday had “resisted to the last” on a settlement. “Their negative response will be long remembeied by trade unionists,” Mr Morel said. Mr J. B. Collet, one of the authority members who took part in negotiations, last evening denied that he had “let the staff down.” He said that he had taken “the greatest interest in the tunnel staff all the way through.”

“I consider we were most helpful and reasonable in reaching a just and fair settlement for all concerned,” he said. Mr Collet, the former deputy chairman of the authority,- said that the sudden change at midnight on Saturday had left several “grey areas.” He would have preferred a two-month period for the authority to wind up its administration and take care of outstanding accounts before the National Roads Board took full control of the tunnel. “We have been left

completely in the dark and not given a chance to tidy up,” he said. Such matters as vehicle maintenance, insurance claims, and the payment of wages up to Saturday were still in the authority’s name, and Mr Collet wondered whether he still had authority to sign cheques. There was also the matter of refunds on an estimated $40,000 worth of toll tick* ets. Mr Collet said that it appeared no arrangements had been made to make refunds to the public. Mr H. J. Hessey, a tunnel warden said last evening that yesterday had been a normal day, although, of course, no tolls were collected. Although motorists no longer had to slow at the toll-gates, he had noticed no increase in speed through the tunnel.