Short-week plan angers farmers

Press, 22 October 1981, Page 1

Short-week plan angers farmers

PA Wellington The furore over the decision by the Longburn freezing works to open talks with the Meat Workers' Union on the four days work for five days pay concept plan continued yesterday as the president of Federated Farmers. Mr W. R. Storey, accused the management of the Borthwick-C.S.W. plant of “jumping the gun” on the rest of the industry.

Federated Farmers was horrified at the decision by Borthwick-C.S.W., he said. After months of discussion between freezing companies, the Meat Board, and Federated Farmers on new technology in freezing works, and an apparent agreement that all companies would maintain a dialogue before entering into individual agreements the company had. without any consultation, entered a discussion with the union at Longburn. The proposals under discussion were a significant change, not only for the freezing industry but for New Zealand industry as a whole.

Mr Storey was speaking at a meeting of the Auckland provincial executive of Federated Farmers yesterday afternoon. “The Borthwick;C.W.S. proposal to introduce a fourday roster, 32-hour week at its Longburn works to replace the existing five-day, 40-hour week — effectively a 34-hour working week — has caused great concern to Federated Farmers," Mr Storey said. The three main objections to the proposal were: a lack of industry consultation.

little apparent benefit from the introduction of new technology flowing through to the farmer, and the flow-on effect to the freezing industry and other sectors of New Zealand industry. If the Bor'thwick-C.W.S. move was duplicated in other freezing works, and if the union maintained the stance that machines could be introduced only if union membership did not decrease, the introduction of labour-saving technology would be with the same number of people still employed, working a shorter week at the same rate of pay, and killing the same' number of stock.

“The meat inspectors, truck drivers, stock drafters, farm workers, and farmers are not going to be thrilled that the people they supply stock to are enjoying substantially different working conditions at what will in many cases be a higher rate of pay," Mr Storey said.

A compacted working week “may well be a winner for Borthwick-C.W.S. in the short term” but it had “possibly disastrous implications" for farmers and the New Zealand economy, he said. Commenting on tne "tour-for-five” concept, the president of the Chambers of Commerce, Mr Allan Williams, said "yesterday, “Irrespective of individuals’ aspirations, we ask those involved to consider the precedent which could be set and which would have disastrous effects on the economy.”

Earlier report, page 2