Site intimidation alleged

Press, 28 August 1982, Page 6

Site intimidation alleged

PA Auckland The two-day strike at the Marsden Point oil refinery expansion project passed into its final hours yesterday, but there was no let-up in the accusations and counterclaims between -the parties involved. Two members of the Labourers’ Union said that workers who wanted a secret’ ballot on strike action were ' intimidated and told, to “shut up” by "a few heavies.” The strike by iOOO workers is' due to finish at 7 a.m. today. The dispute appears still to be set on a course to the Arbitration Court. Two workers at the site said yesterday that they had . wanted a' secret ballot to be taken during Wednesday’s meeting which decided on strike action. They were both opposed to the 48,-hour strike. “A lot of people ’wanted a secret ballot and we tried very hard to get it,” said one of the men, Mr Herbert

Gregory, of Whangarei Heads. “It was a jacked-up thing.” he said. “It is a very foolish strike. It is very ’political with the Federation of Labour and the Boilermakers' Union trying to show everyone how much power they have.” ■ Another worker, who declined to give his name, said, “If there had been a ballot, things would have gone the other way.” The industrial relations : manager for the project, Mr Ron Richards, said the . unions were trying to force the contractor, Badger-Chi-yoda JV2, to hire people whom most employers would . regard as unsuitable. The Labour Party spok‘es : man on industrial relations, Mr F. M. Gerbic, said that the Government had orchestrated the dispute and that JV2 had opted out of its exclusive right to hire and fire labour on the site. He said the site agreement

negotiated between JV2 and the various unions provided that the employer “undertakes to support to the greatest possible extent the use of labour from within New Zealand and to discuss and reach agreement with the F.O.L. before recruiting overseas.” The Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, said in Parliament that' Labour was “crawling” behind the decisions of the F.O.L. The Opposition’s support for the F.O.L. was appalling, he said. Mr Birch sain the Opposition was insisting by its support for the unions that “the troublemakers who clearly and visibly wrecked the Bank of New Zealand site” be hired at Marsden Point. Speaking during the Budget debate, Mr Birch produced a ruling from a compulsory conference on the Bank of New Zealand dispute in Wellington to lend weight

to the Government's stated attitude. The Government has consistently said that an employer can hire whom he likes, and the ruling Mr Birch quoted appeared to endorse this. In the case of the Boilermakers v. Fletcher Bernard Smith it was decided that an employer has a common-law right to engage labour without hindrance or restriction to suit his requirements. Also, a union had not the right to oppose the hiring of anyone who at the time of engagement was not a member of the union. Mr Birch said that delays in completing the project on time could cost $2O million a month. As a gesture of solidarity with the strikers at Marsden Point, more than 500 Ministry of Works’ workers on the Tongariro power project walked off the job yesterday on a one-day strike.