Ferries to sail today: normal work tomorrow

Press, 21 February 1980, Page 1

Ferries to sail today: normal work tomorrow

PA Picton Marlborough Harbour Board employees will return to normal work about 5 a.m. tomorrow. In the meantime, their union has agreed to three sailings of the Cook Strait ferries today.

o The Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) has called a compulsory conference at e. 30 a.m. tomorrow at the union’s request. Chaired by an Auckland industrial conciliator, .Mr, F. Gerbic, it. will examine the cause of the stoppages at Picton. The union says it stopped work because there was “a .complete breakdown in industrial relations” between the board and its employees. A disagreement over bereavement leave prompted the strike, which began three weeks ago today. The Harbour Board’s chairman (Mr H. J. Stace) said that the union had never told the board what dem - nds it wished the

board to consider, He said he believed the real reason behind the union’s action was a proposal by the board to reduce overtime. Although the union will remain on strike until tomorrow, it has offered to provide voluntary manning; to allow three return sailings of the Cook Strait ferries today. Only passengers, cars, perishable goods and 'livestock will be carried until the conference begins tomorrow. Then normal work will resume. Ferries will leave Wellington and Picton at 10 a.m., 2.20 p.m. and 6 p.rr today. A Railways spokesman said the passenger and vehicle backlog caused by T esday’s all-day stoppage

and the restricted schedule had been cleared by an extra sailing at 4 p.m, yesterday. , A separate dispute involving a ban by ferry deck officers on nignt crossings is continuing. The officers say that an inquiry into ferry- wages lost them their traditional relativity with engineers. A shortage of railway waggons, held in Picton and Wellington by the ferry disputes, is not hampering other, freight in the South Island, according to the Railways assistant district traffic manager (Mr D. J. Bradley). Although many waggons . were taken up storing goods awaiting transport across Cook Strait, the. department had been able to cope with the normal demand for freight waggons, he said. As much freight as possible was being shipped out of Lyttelton to ease the backlog. Mr Bradley said the Railways would require at least two days to clear the backlog before taking normal consignments once the disputes were settled. The director of the Canterbury Manufacturers’Association (Mr I. D. Howell) said yesterday that the problems with Cook Strait ferries emphasised the value of the Lyt-telton-to-Wellington Coastal Trader as an alternative shipping service. The strike at Picton has not only deprived the Marlborough Harbour Board of the services of its union staff but has abruptly removed the ser« vices of its Harbourmaster; (Captain D. J. Jamison). Captain Jamison board« ed the Sitmar liner Fairstar when she sailed from Picton for Sydney at 6.45 p.m. on Saturday. When his pilot! duties were completed and he was ready to be picked up by the pilot boat Marlborough, two union members of the crew refused to collect him.

He is now enjoying an unplanned holiday in Sydney, and is the envy of his less fortunate and overworked executive colleagues weathering .the strike’ in Picton.