Move on crane job

Press, 21 May 1979, Page 7

Move on crane job

PA Wellington The Federation of Labour will try this week to convince the Government that reregistration of Wellington boilermakers is the only way out of the container crane and Bank of New Zealand site stalemates. The F.O.L. president (Mr W. J. Knox) said that he had arranged a meeting with the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) at Parliament Buildings on Friday.

Mr Knox also wants the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) to attend the meeting. “I think a lot of people feel the boilermakers have been penalised long enough,” he said. "But if the Prime Minister is determined to continue to refuse to recognise them, we will always have trouble.” The Australian steelerection sub-contractor, Multicon Engineering, is quitting the bank job on

June 16 and the main contactor, Civil and Civic, Ltd. has given notice to about 40 boilermakers. Mr Knox said he had no doubt that the Government was pressuring Civil and Civic not to reach an agreement with the boilermakers by negotiating through Multicon. This had to stop.

Multicon, which on May 4 had signed an agreement with the Boilermakers’ Society’s secretary’ (Mr C. Devitt), and the former F.O.L. president. Sir Thomas Skinner, to finish the container crane was now talking to the principal contractor, Vickers Hoskins, of Perth. The managing director (Mr J. Cecchini) had said that it would be up to two weeks before he could say if Vickers Hoskins and the main construction contractor. Downer and Company, would agree to Multicon finishing the crane. “I have impressed on him

that we have to know one way or the other as soon as possible,” said Mr Knox. "1 hope they will be able to carry out the agreement we reached.” An F.O.L. executive meet-j ing has also discussed! the Mangere bridge dispute, which will have been going on for a year on May 29. The Ministry of Works and Development had agreed to meet the F.O.L. today, said Mr Knox. As Wilkinson and Davies Construction had been released from the contract, the F.O.L. had to find out if the Ministry intended to try to finish the job or whether it would find another contractor.