Fuel ban hits Twizel: 260 out of work

Press, 8 May 1980, Page 1

Fuel ban hits Twizel: 260 out of work

Two hundred and sixty men working on the Upper Waitaki power project at Twizel were told yesterday not to report to work today because the Ministry of Works had run out of fuel for its trucks and heavy machinery. The Ministry had only about 14,000 litres yesterday morning, and when this was used by midday, the vehicles had left only what was in their tanks. As they ran out of fuel they were parked.

Twizel’s information officer (Mr R. D. Ramsay) said that by tomorrow another 40 men could be out of w°rk because the vehicles that delivered concrete to the sites would be out of fuel. The fuel has not been getting to the Ministry of Works at Twizel because of a black ban on fuel supplies imposed by the Canterbury Trades Council on all Canterbury depots and sites of the Ministry. Only Twizel has been affected so. far. The ban has been

imposed because of a union dispute with the Christchurch contracting firm of Musgrove Bros, Ltd, over redundancy payments. Informal talks began yesterday aimed at settling the dispute. The talks, which will continue today, involve the unions, the company, the Canterbury Employers’ Association, and the head office of the Labour Department. The director of the association . (Mr N. M. West) said that the parties were trying to find a formula in

which all the issues could be satisfactorily resolved. It was in the interests of all concerned that some way be found to settle the matter before it got totally out of control, he said. The Federation of Labour vesterday put its weight behind the Canterbury Trades Council. A member of the council's disputes committee, Mr F. E. McNulty, told the F.O.L.’s annual conference that the dispute was important for the whole workforce because Musgrove’s

wanted to put off its permanent staff and employ owner-drivers, labour-only contractors. and parttimers to get over financial difficulties. Mr W. R. Cameron, the president of the council, said the firm had given notice to 30 of its workers and wanted to replace them with “tin-pot capitalists.”

The company was not prepared to negotiate redundancy payments above the Government’s guidelines.

He warned that if, the company did not “play ball” the unions would drive it out of business. Mr McNulty said if the system being adopted by Musgrove’s got a foothold in the work-force, employers would increasingly use it to get themselves out of financial difficulties. The conference adopted a resolution by Mr McNulty that the F.O.L. support the Canterbury Trades Council in the dispute. The Minister of Works and Development (Mr W.

L. Young) said yesterday that a prosecution against the Canterbury Drivers’ Union fc-r an illegal ban on fuel deliveries might be legal but certainly premature. ■ He also indicated the Ministry would not respond to pressure to force it to ask Musgrove’s to withdraw from contract work. “It is highly undesirable to deny anyone the right to work for the Ministry of Works,” Mr Young said. “I don’t like the

idea,” Mr Young said the fuel situation at Twizel was critical. The Ministry of Works had “expressed its anxiety to the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger), and .was hoping for fruitful discussions. “1 believe the Federation of Labour is taking an interest and if that is the case there should be speedy action on the matter,” Mr Youpg said. I Mr Bolger was- nbt available for comment last evening.