Dispute at refinery resolved

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 1

Dispute at refinery resolved

Parliamentary reporter

Striking New Zealand and British riggers will return to work at Marsden Point at 11 a.m. on Monday, under an agreement reached between the Federation of Labour and the employer at the site, the JV2 consortium.

The agreement was reached late yesterday afternoon. and last evening had still to be confirmed between the parties by an exchange of letters.

It ends a strike which began more than a week ago when 16 British riggers arrived to work on the site. One hundred and twenty New Zealand riggers decided to stay out until JV2 employed all the qualified NewZealand riggers who wanted work on the site. The Minister of Labour. Mr Bolger, said yesterday that the decision was "very welcome." The Cabinet will now be able to forget the contingency plans it was considering to get a return to work at the site. The plans included the deregistration of the Labourers Union, of which the riggers are members. and heavy fines imposed on unions and individual members under the Commerce Act.

It had been unwilling to intervene in the dispute because of the lack of success of deregistration in the past. However, statements by the chairman of the NewZealand Refining Company. Mr R. A. Broughton, that the project could become uneconomic if delays continued, were forcing the Government to act. Government intervention was expected from the Cabinet meeting on Monday. Mr Bolger said last evening that the only new component in the agreement was an arrangement acceptable to both parties on a new method of processing applications by New Zealand

riggers for jobs on the site

The Federation of Labour's president. Mr W. J. Knox, described it as a new recruitment policy. He had told JV2 that it was necessary to look at freer discussions, the processing of job applications already received by the consortium. and speeding up the handling of new applications. The riggers have also agreed to abide by the Arbitration Court decision which allowed 90 British riggers on .to the site in the first six months of this year, and by the site agreement. Mr Bolger said that the federation's proposal of a joint management-union committee had clearly been put aside by it in the new move. The idea had been rejected by JV2 anyway. Labour Department officials speculating on the federation's move yesterday said that the F.O.L. appeared .to have softened its unqualified demands for employment of all New Zealand riggers wanting work. The company later indicated that it was its understanding from the settlement that the way was now clear to hire more overseas labour.

In Wellington, the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, told NZPA that the riggers had come out of the dispute with nothing. They had agreed to go back to work in the realisation that "theirs was a lost cause and the rest of the workers on site were totallyopposed to them." he said. Mr Muldoon and the Minister of Energy. Mr Birch, visited Marsden Point yesterday on visits arranged before the row flared. Afterwards Mr Muldoon said the site workers had welcomed him.

"For the first time in my life, people had placards up saying, ‘Welcome Rob Muldoon.' I have never had that on an industrial site before." Mr Muldoon said.

Mr Birch, page 3