Power men reject pay inquiry
PA Wellington A two-hour meeting, at Parliament yesterday; failed to break the deadlock, between the Government.and the Electrical;. ; Workers’ Union over the 24 per cent wage settlement negotiated by the union last week. The meeting broke up with the union’s, secretary (Mr A. J. Neary) refusing to accept a suggestion by the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) that a Commission of Inquiry should look into the settlement. The Government has indicated that a 24 per cent settlement is unacceptable, and Mr Bolger said after the meeting that he wanted to keep separate from the basic' wage agreement the suggestion of a wage link between employees of electrical supply authorities and those employed by the State. . * Under the settlement, supply authority workers would receive a 13.5 per cent increase from'October 11, of which 10.1 per cent would be k a catch-up on State rates.
From November 11, supply authority electricians will. also receive any increase obtained by State electricians in their negotiations, less 3.4 per cent.
Mr Bolger said it was
essential to establish what was part of the wage round — the 13.5 per cent—and the peripheral parity question. ' e .
He said there was no suggestion of a 24 per cent wage increase in this pay round; there were two distinct components in the electrical workers’ award.
Mr Neary said his union had reached a wage agreement with its employers in the normal way and the award documents were now with the Arbitration Court.
Mr Neary said he did not accept that 24 per cent would be regarded as the new benchmark because the circumstances of his union’s settlement did not prevail in other awards. The chairman of the Electrical. Supply Authorities industrial committee (Mr M. W. Waters) indicated that the employers were more flexible than the union and would be prepared to consider a Commission of Inquiry. The parties at yesterday’s meeting agreed to meet again, but no date was set. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said in Hong Kong yesterday that it was important that the 13.5 per cent level of wage increases be cemented into the wage round. ,
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Press, 11 September 1980, Page 1
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355Power men reject pay inquiry Press, 11 September 1980, Page 1
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