Wage legislation angers C.S.U.

Press, 17 December 1982, Page 4

Wage legislation angers C.S.U.

PA Wellington Angry State servant leaders’ told members ol Parliament yesterday that uregent legislation before Parliament was extending the wage freeze by widening the definition of remuneration.

One of the Combined State Unions’ representatives. Mr D. H. Thorp, described the freeze and the bill now being used to block a loophoole as a travesty of democracy.

Mr Thorp and the C.S.U. secretary. Mr Barry Tucker, appeared before the Parliamentary select committee examining the Economic Stabilisation Amendment Bill at short notice, after it earlier appeared that the committee was only going to receive in-camera' departmental evidence, during its one-day hearing. They were given 75 minutes notice of their appearance. had no opportunity to prepare a formal submis-

sion. and had not seen a copy of the bill. Prompted by questions from Labours constitutional law expert. Mr G. W. R. Palmer. Mr Tucker agreed that the Government was using the bill to extend its freeze. He also agreed with Mr D. F. Caygill (Lab., St Albans), that a broader definition of remuneration would be written into law by the measure, brought into Parliament after an urgent Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and due to be passed last night. The bill' in part includes refunds or allowances in the definition of remuneration. Mr T. A. de Cleene (LabPalmerston. North) said the case the C.S.U. took to the Court of Appeal was to determine if it could bring claims for reimbursements. It was possible at the moment to pay them, but the bill would make it unlawful to pay the reimbursements in a wage freeze.

State servants were placed outside the Wage Freeze Regulations by the Court of Appeal decision. The main thrust of the bill was to make laws governing State servants' pay subservient to the act imposing wage freezes. Mr Tucker said'the other laws might as well not exist if they could be overridden.

“It seems. to us you are making it impossible to test anything even if the unions happen to be right in terms of justice or anything else."

He also said the brief passage of the bill w r as the first opportunity Parliament had to at least’ have a cursory look at what the Government was doing in its wage freeze. Mr Thorp said it was a travesty of democracy that the Government had imposed the freeze, after failing even to hint during the 1981 General Election that it would happen.