Confrontations not sought by unions-lecturer

Press, 3 February 1981, Page 4

Confrontations not sought by unions-lecturer

PA - Wellington. New-Zealand unions are not heading towards bigger- and bfetfer., confrontations with the Government and employers, a newly appointed lecturer in industrial relations at Victoria University. : has said. Mr Patfick Walsh is completing' a ;• doctoral : thesis on the New Zealand industrial relations system and has become Victoria's latest lecturer on the sub-' ject., ” He said that the - Conciliation and arbitration system would continue but would have to .adapt to today’s mood. “Strikes are an inevitable weapon in . negotiation. but there are not ‘dark-forces’ at work. We are not heading towards, bigger and better ,con-> frontations. ft would be too pessimistic to say. we are.-'/'.-“But there have -been, because we • have been changing from concilia'tion to collective ‘bargaining, and changes mean instability fraught with misunderstanding.” He said the Government — he calls it “the State” — is understandably in favour of a conciliationonly system for award fixing -because it gave a predictability and control over the industrial front. ; “Let’s face it, it is potentially chaotic," he said. It has been only since

the early 1960 s that the unions have moved away from the direct arbitration system, Mr Walsh said. He cannot see them returning to that again. Industrial relations until then had been under the umbrella ‘of the conciliation system since its introduction in the 1890 s. The system gave the Government an arm to steer . the industrial scene and helped the smaller, wea- - ker, unions. t• ‘ But the system was always resisted by the larger unions such as the freezing workers, wharfies, and later, the drivers, who felt , their efficient union power and organisational strength was being shackled. The - nil wage order . handed down by the Arbi- - tration Court in 1968 saw the conciliation system pushed past the point of acceptance by the unions, and burgeoning unemployment;, put even greater pressure on them for. bet*'ter wage conditions. “The question asked in the dpctoral thesis, is if this system is now irrele- . vant what is the State’s Vrespopse? With unions .now completely disregarding the system, the oredictability has gone. So how can we control them? “Are the bewildering series of wage policies designed to set limits or are they supposed to outflank the union negotiators?”