Boiler attendants back down; Kinleith tipped to roll tomorrow

Press, 26 March 1980, Page 1

Boiler attendants back down; Kinleith tipped to roll tomorrow

PA Hamilton Kinleith boiler attendants yesterday backed off from a confrontation with the Government and opened the way for work to resume at the pulp and paper mills.

Led by Mr G. H. Andersen, the Auckland secretary of their union, the Stationary Engine Drivers’ Union, they dropped their objections to the Government’s peace agreement and a mass meeting of Kin- • leith workers gave the proposals their “conditional” approval. The president of the Federation of Labour (Mr W. J. Knox) said the boiler attendants had “waived the right to discuss the issue at a later date.” The Government was trying to isolate the union but this had to be avoided at all costs. He had been unable to recommend a return to work because of outstanding issues that needed to be discussed with N.Z.

Forest Products. These included payment of rents and loans suspended during the strike. It would take another day of talks with the company to reach a conclusion. He had asked the Kinleith workers to stand by for further meetings tomorrow morning at which he hoped to be able to recommend a return to work. A special Executive Council meeting will also be held at Parliament on Thursday to repeal the Government’s Kinleith pay regulations. The Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) said after a telephone call from Mr Knox last evening that Mr

Knox would recommend an immediate return to work at Kinleith tomorrow.

Earlier yesterday it had seemed that the boiler attendants would block settlement of the dispute by holding out for extra money to work 363 days a year. At midday, the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) told an Employers’ Federation meeting in Wellington that there was no indication the dispute would be settled. He said that the Government would make the Socialist Unity Party, of which Mr Andersen is president, illegal if it became necessary.

It is believed that Mr Knox exerted pressure on

the boiler attendants to accept the Government’s proposals. Mr Bolger said the boiler attendants were no longer seeking a special payment Tasman mill workers at Kawerau have already voted to accept the industry wage settlement, tying rates to the Metal Trades Award, as the basis for resuming work at Kinleith.

It will take at least a week to bring the Kinleith mill back into full produce tion after work resumes, according to a N.Z. Forest Products spokesman. Restarting the giant mill could not be accomplished by simply throwing a switch, he said. The machines had been idle since January 7 and no maintenance work had been done since then,