State pay rates 'not excessive’

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 13

State pay rates ' not excessive’

A claim by the newlyfdrmed Canterbury Business Council that. State wage rates are excessive has been rebutted by the national president of the Railway Tradesmen’s Association, Mr J. C, Swift. The council said in a statement in “The Press” of October js2l, that pace setting by the State services was a significant feature in New Zealand’s economic difficulties. But Mr Swift Said this was incorrect. If it was correct then the information provided by private employers to the Department of Labour would substantiate It “Fortunately for thousands of State employees, it has not,” said Mr Swift.

Until recently State wage rates had been established by ruling rates surveys for tradesmen and half-yearly surveys for socalled white-collar workers. The information collected by the department’s inspectors came from private employers. “It is correct that the State wage legislation is aimed at fair comparability with the private sector and it is with that thought in mind that the Government and the Combined State Unions have agreed on a pay-research exercise that will establish a base rate in the State sector that will compare with the true rates paid in the private sector,” said Mr Swift.