Minister discusses N.Z. industrial ‘myths’

Press, 10 June 1980, Page 30

Minister discusses N.Z. industrial ‘myths’

PA Wellington Myths that New Zealand has one of the worst industrial relations records and that this is deteriorating are untrue and shouh’ be exploded, the Ministc of Labour (Mr Bolger) h. said. Mr Bolger, addressin; the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, said hi wanted to get the messagi across that the industrial scene was looking up Supporting his claim ht cited the fact that th, worst year for number o' working days lost in New Zealand through Industrie' action was 1976. Things had improved since then. Figures supplied by the International Labour Organisation showed that New Zealand lost an average of 810 days, per thousand workers in disputes in 1977. This dropped to 790 the next year, and compared with 1010 days lost in Australia. That same year the United States lost 1080 days and Canada 1903. West Germany lost only 370. The figures showed that,

contrary to public perception, New Zealand ranked reasonably well compared with other similiar economies, Mr Bolger said. But there was scope for arther improvement. In the hope of achieving uch an improvement, th. ederation of Labour, the employers’ Federation an< ihe Government wen holding talks on wagefixing policies. Mr Bolge detailed a seven-poin; igenda which the partie' .vere using as a basis f<> liscussion. It included: — — The incorporation o i wages policy within thr vider economic frame vork. — The role of taxatio: md benefits in such a pol — An evaluation oi wage indexation, wage guidelines, a general wage order system and other options. — Consideration _of wage relativities, job evaluation within industry and margins for skill. —An examination of the conciliation and arbitration system including the role and resources of the Arbitration Court.

The rationalisation of union and employer organisation structures. — Redundancy payments and their financing. Elaborating on these points, Mr Bolger said the consideration of options such as wage indexation, guidelines, and wage >rders, was at the heart oi my future wage fixing >olicy. “It identifies some ol he options that are availible. But. within that >road framework there are carious sub-options and it will clearly be difficult to ret a consensus as to the fairest and most effective method of determining .cages.” Mr Bolger wanted to sec an improvement in commitment by the parties to the traditional conciliation and arbitration system. It had never worked perfectly, he said, although it had been the cornerstone of New Zealand’s industrial law since the end o! last century. He was also keen to see a more unified union and employer st-ucture. “Kinleith showed the weakness of a fragmented system on both sides.” Rationalisation was often talked about but progress was slow. There was also the problem of redundancy payments, and determining where responsibility for such payments rested. “An additional problem has emerged on the question of the priority redundancy 7 payments should have, when companies collapse.” Mr Bolger said although it was possible to get agreement between -. the parties on the - areas- in which discussion was. re-.. quired, it was . clear that “much hard work and good will will be required if we are to bring together an improved package by the start of the next wage round.”

“On my observation parties have approached the exercise with a full appreciation of its importance and willingness to try to reach ■ common ground in this complex arena.” Too often, he said, it was the more extravagant statements from either sides and the threats or actuality of industrial disruption that made the headlines.

“This concentration of the sensational creates the belief that industrial - relations in New Zealand is categorised by constant conflict and dispute.

“This is not correct.Most disagreements are resolved in a calm and rational manner,” he said. He also defended the Government’s record in employment, saying “extravagant” statements were made concerning the size of the problem. “What appears to be overlooked is that the

Labour Department half. * yearly employment survey* for the year ended Octo-M ber, 1979, showed that more New Zealanders! have jobs than ever in history.” • 3

Full time employment M was up 1.5 per cent and t part-time employment 1.8 per cent. W

“While everyone looks $ to Government’to provide 5 the solutions in this area, H it is my firm belief that ? provid.ng employment op-’3 portunities for our work-M force is a community ret ft sponsibility, not one that resides solely at central / government." 2 The suggestion from the* Leader of the Opposition ? t (Mr Rowling) that the-i Government guarantee 4 young people five years of * employment after leaving 3 school had been borrowed ' from West Germany, he said. "

“The compulsory aspect ? of the West German .1 scheme is that the Federal :? Government should es-1? tablish each year what the 3 S supply of the demand for 3 training is, for all school- / leavers. If the supply does 3 not exceed demand by aty least 12.5 per cent., the Federal Government can-, impose a levy of 0.25 per<> cent of the total wage bill ’1 on all companies withy* more than 20 employees, ? and use the funds to pay \ a premium for each addi- ’; tional training place *’ created, according to the ’ costs-involved. . “This threat of a forms’ of payroll tax appears to-j-i have been successful in H providing additional job (i opportunities for schoolleavers in West Germany., “But it is pertinent to N note that West Germany's . unemployment rate is still ? higher than New Zealand’s j so I presume there has * been some shifting of ? unemployment from- the ■' young to other . age. groups. The social implica- i tion of ; that, particularly ■' in the area of. those with' ’ family responsibilities, ; * would be easy to imag-; ine.” ■

Compulsion, Mr Bolger >' said was not a part of! Government strategy on? employment. “Rather we have sought;; the co-operation of vafi- 7 ous employing groups to - - provide job opportunities and we have encouraged j them by a range of sub-? sidies to assist in the initial stages of that I employment. "The only effective way; of overcoming employment problems is to increase the economic growth of New Zealand and provide for true job increases, rather than by either increasing the public service, as the Labbur government did in 1974-75, or by the recent suggestions that employers should be compelled to increase their workforce by Government, action,” Mr Bolger said.