Black ban could cost millions

Press, 7 May 1980, Page 1

Black ban could cost millions

A row over $9OOO might cost the taxpayer $lOO,OOO a day from today, unless the Musgrove Bros redundancy dispute is resolved. The $9OOO is the difference between what Canterbury trade unions have been demanding in redundancy payments for 20 workers of the Christchurch contracting firm, Musgrove Bros, Ltd, and what the company says it can afford to pay. The $lOO,OOO a day is what officials at Twizel estimate it will cost the taxpayer after midday today when diesel fuel runs out as a result of a ban on fuel deliveries to Ministry of Works projects. The ban was imposed by the Canterbury Trades Council at 8 a.m. last Friday on all Ministry of Works sites in Canterbury and will continue until the Ministry asks Musgrove Bros to withdraw from contract work for it. Twizel’s information officer (Mr R. D. Ramsay) said that it would cost the taxpayer $lOO,OOO a day in machine “downtime,” which he said applied when the expensive earthmoving equipment for the Upper Waitaki power project was not being used. He said it would cost the

taxpayer $200,000 a day if the whole project was halted. The dispute also threatens the jobs of 350 Twizel workers, and could affect the jobs of other workers nt the town, which has 1200 in its workforce and a total population of about 5000. Mr Ramsay said the people of Twizel were bewildered as to why they had been singled out when Musgrove Bros had never worked at Twizel. He also denied assertions made in “The Press” yesterday by the secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Labourers’ Union (Mr R. A. Lowe) that the Public Service Association had given its support to the. ban. P.S.A. and Workers’ Union members will be suspended when.the fuel supplies run out. Mr Ramsay said that the Twizel sub-branch ' of the- P.S.A. had not given its support as the members had not even met. to consider the matter. The Twizel sub-branch comes,.under the Otago region, but both the regional and. section-secretaries of the Otago P.S.A. were not in Dunedin yesterday. However. the field officer of.the South Island branch of the Workers’ Union (Mr R. H.

Skerton) confirmed; yesterday that the union had been approached by the Canterbury Trades Council and was co-operating with the other unions. ; The ’ managing director of Musgrove’s (Mr G. G. Vickers) confirmed yester-day-thatethe company had stopped '- work on the Cashel. Street' site of the. Shades Tavern at the request of the main contractor, Fletcher Construction. The case was cited, by Mr Lowe as an example that the' - Ministry - could follow: in its problem about not wanting-to break contracts with Musgrove’s, But Mr-Vickers said that Musgrove’s had withdrawn • from the excavation work: at . Cashel Street because Fletcher’s had been threatened'by the unions that unless Musgrove’s went off the site; Fletcher’s would be blacked. . ; / ; Mr Vickers said that he felt it was only reasonable at the tim'e that Fletcher’s should not have to suffer from a black ban. and so Musgrove’s had withdrawn voluntarily. The city firm of Christchurch ReadyMix is-nbw doing the work on the Cashel Street site formerly done by Musgrove’s. . .. ’ Ban illegal — Page 6.