Strike talks collapse

Press, 10 November 1981, Page 8

Strike talks collapse

NZPA Melbourne The crippling Australian meat inspectors’ strike took a turn for the worse yesterday. An Arbitration Commission conference on the dispute over a 25 per cent pay claim lasted only a few minutes before breaking down. Outside the hearing union chiefs announced that the strike would continue indefinitely and said they were prepared for a long fight to achieve pay rises of up to SNZIO4. The five-day-old strike by about 1800 members of the Commonwealth Meat Inspectors’ Association has halted Australia’s meat exports and led to thousands being suspended. The Association said that more than 15,000 workers had been suspended at meat works around the country. The union’s federal secretary, Gordon McColl, said after yesterday’s conference that the union had rejected a call from the deputy public service arbitrator, Norm Taylor, for a return to work. Mr McColl said the strike would continue indefinitely until the Public Service Board made a suitable offer on the union’s pay claim. “There have been no offers,” he said. “We have not accepted the arbitrator’s decision to go back to work so we have an indefinite strike.” While the strike has severely hit the meat-export market, domestic supplies in most states have not been drastically affected. Although domestic supplies stored at meat export works have been tied up, many local abattoirs have continued work unaffected by the strike. State meat inspectors who are not on strike are in charge of overseeing work at these local meat works.