‘No way cost-of-living increase is a gift’

Press, 27 May 1981, Page 1

‘No way cost-of-living increase is a gift’

PA Wellington There is no .way that trade unions can see the 5 per cent cost-of-living increase as a “gift” from the Arbitration Court and then seek a full annual wage increase on top of it, according to the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger), yesterday. Mr Bolger said he was not sure what the president of the Federation of Labour, Mr W. J. Knox, had in mind when saying that individual unions could go ahead with “unrestricted claims.” “But I can tell him that if unions don’t restrict claims to what is reasonable, the Government will.” he said.

Mr Bolger made his comments in an address to the Hutt Valley Chambers of Commerce. He said he would have preferred a smaller court order, which would have left more flexibility for wage negotiations.

“That flexibility has now been restricted and union negotiators must accept that in framing this year’s wage claims,” Mr Bolger said. . “If the F.O.L. will not or cannot inform union negotiators to take the 5 per cent general increase into account, then I certainly . can and do,” he said.

He recalled that the Government had agreed during negotiations to end the Kinleith strike. to repeal the Remuneration Act and to permit the parties to take a wage claim to the Arbitration Court. “The Government took these steps on the understanding. and with assurances from the F.0.L., that future wage rounds would proceed on a reasonable level,” he said. The war of words between the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) and the F.O.L. continued yesterday with Mr Muldoon issuing

a statement in which he accused the F.O.L. secretary. Mr K. G. Douglas, of endeavouring to distort the views which the Government put forward at the last meeting of the tripartite wages talks. “He (Mr Douglas) savs that I was not sure whether we were talking of wage claims as gross or net.” Mr Muldoon said. “We discussed that issue thoroughly and it was made clear that, although they were denominated as gross, the cash set-off would obviously have to be met, as against net tax reductions.”

These calculations had already been done by a joint working party, as Mr Douglas well knew, he said.

Mr Muldoon said it was this unwillingness of the F.O.L. to agree in principle to a “very simple proposition” which had made it necessary for the Govcrn-

ment to look at alternatives.

He said that the two alternatives he had suggested on Monday resulted from the unwillingness of the F.O.L. to agree to a very simple and logical proposition which was clearly in the best interests of New Zealand workers. If Mr Muldoon continued to “misrepresent” the situation over the Arbitration Court cost-of-living hearing, the F.O.L. might have to release the relevant documents, Mr Douglas said yesterday. The Labour Shadow Minister of Labour, Mr T. ■K. Burke, has attacked the Government for refusing to put its proposals to the F.O.L. in writing. Wage negotiations should be conducted across the negotiating table, not through the news media, he said.