Sacking over 2,4,5-T stand

Press, 11 May 1979, Page 18

Sacking over 2,4,5-T stand

PA Auckland A worker on a Government special-work scheme was dismissed because he refused to work in a gang which was using the weedkiller 2,4,5-T, a hearing at Auckland before an industrial mediator has been told. The mediator, Mr E. V. Wright, conducted the case, in which the Auckland branch of the Labourers’ Union alleged that the Thames-Coromandel District C.unc;l has dismissed the man unjustifiably. Afte r a three-hour hearing, the union withdrew its claim for reinstatement and payment for the workers lost time. The case will lapse unless the union raises it again. The hearing was told the worker was a member of a patty which was < hopping and treating noxious weeds late in April. A mixture of 2,4,5-T and diesel was being painted on the stumps of the weeds. The worker objected to the way the chemical was being used and, when an offer was made to transfer him to another work gang, he refused, maintaining that such an action removed him and not the problem. Evidence was given that the spray was used according to instructions, and that safety gear was available. The worker was given one week’s pay when he was dismissed.