Relief in sight for fuel-starved Christchurch as time runs out

Press, 27 November 1980, Page 1

Relief in sight for fuel-starved Christchurch as time runs out

Christchurch oil storemen and tanker drivers are expected to work today to allow deliveries of petrol and oil to resume, but even if they do it will take several days before things are back to normal.

The Drivers’ advocate, Mr R. J. Campbell, flew to Christchurch last evening and will present a package of proposals to a combined meeting of storemen and tanker drivers this morning, which 'should pave the way for a return to work. The proposals were hammered out between Mr Campbell and the oil industry’s executive officer, Mr S. F. Marshall, late yesterday. The development came as the petrol shortage began to cause near-siege conditions in Christchurch. Yesterday, some doctors were unable to see patients because their cars were out of' fuel, taxis faced having to come off the road and bus, aircraft, and fishing-boat operators were estimating how many more days they could continue. Some factories are near to closing, starved of fuel supplies, and deliveries have been hit. If the Christchurch drivers and storemen return to work they will be the last of New Zealand’s oil workers to do so. Auckland drivers and storemen returned yesterday. • -

Mr Marshall could not comment on the package of proposals worked out between the two advocates, but is hopeful that they will be accepted and bring a resumption today. It will take the tanker drivers several days to supply the 140 service stations and many commercial users who need delivries of oil products. The key issue in the Christchurch dispute is the decision by oil storemen last Monday to impose a ban on discharging products from tanker ships. This prompted the companies to deem the storemen to be on strike and set off the chain reaction that caused valves to be turned off by the storemen, management to turn them on again, and tanker drivers to refuse to load out from “blacked” valves and to be suspended for it. If the oil storemen agree to return to normal work, the companies ' will allow the tanker drivers to deliver. Mr Marshall said that s e r v i c e-station owners would not be allowed to deliver petrol. The Canterbury Motor Trades sociation decided on Tues-

.day to go to the Woolston depot at 10 a.m. today to try to load out petrol themselves unless work resumed by 8 a.m. But Mr Marshall, who met a deputation from the association in Wellington yesterday, said that although he sympathised with the plight of garage owners, the industry was governed by strict regulations and could not permit the owners to deliver fuel themselves.

No extra security would be taken to prevent the service-station proprietors from carrying out their threat, because the industry had faith that they would behave responsibly, he said.

The president of the Canterbury Drivers’ Union, Mr D. Collins, said last evening that drivers had reaffirmed their decision, not to take o’il from valves which had been “blacked” by oil storemen. “It has always been our policy to make., deliveries to essential services, but we cannot take something that has been blacked by another union. 'That is a basic principle of the union movement, everywhere,” said Mr Collins.

He said that some BP drivers had been able to relieve some of the pressure with supplies of oil products from the Lyttelton installation during the week, but when they went to a meeting of tanker drivers yesterday at 8 a.m. they were deemed to be on strike, and that halted all deliveries.

The meeting, attended by about 55 drivers, resolved not to implement the special customer-relief programme “in this instance.” That decision meant that there could be no deliveries to users such as Jiown .Crystal, which had had one token delivery on Tuesday. Later in the day, however, the unions had apw proached the management of Mobil Oil in Wellington and offered to provide one storeman and one driver to deliver to emergency services in Christchurch. A reply was still being awaited last evening. The Christchurch police, have ample supplies of petrol in store, and the Fire Service has enough petrol and diesel in underground tanks at its headquarters to last for some time.