Labourers join refinery strike

Press, 18 March 1983, Page 6

Labourers join refinery strike

PA Whangarei A 48-hour strike by 217 JV2 construction consortium carpenters at Marsden Point, which began yesterday, has spread to include 273 labourers and 40 concrete workers employed at the refinery expansion site. The stoppage, initiated by carpenters in a secret ballot on Wednesday evening, is “in protest against JV2 management’s negative attitude towards the carpenters and their officials, and the unwillingness of JV2’s industrial relations department to deal with legitimate grievances.”

Two hundred votes were cast by JV2 carpenters, 181 voting for the stoppage, 17 against,, and two invalid votes.

The carpenters were joined yesterday by labourers and concrete workers, who voted not to return to work until Monday.

Mr Geoff Minchin, the New Zealand Refining Company's public relations officer, said the reasons for

the stoppage were not yet clear to refinery officials. He believed several issues were involved.

The relatively short nature of the stoppage would not cause serious delays to the expansion project, Mr Minchin said. Some work would continue on site in spite of the withdrawal of labour.

Mr Bill Boyle, delegate for JV2 carpenters, said his union had decided to hold a secret ballot on possible industrial action because “of all the hoohah going on." “We wanted to prove that we are not a bunch of militants. It is because we are a moderate union that the company has been ignoring us.” Mr Len Baines, secretary of the Northern branch of the Carpenters and Related Trades Union, said militancy appeared to be the only way in which workers got anything done. He said the union had approached the company’s industrial relations department with several problems but nothing had been done.

"We have been doing things the right way and nothing has been happening." he said. "Some of the problems are not earthshattering but frustrations mount when they are ignored.” Mr Baines said that union officials had waited three hours to present points arising from a monthly meeting last week and officials had brushed them aside.

Partly at issue is the alleged unwarranted suspension of some carpenters, now the subject of an Arbitration Court application by the union. Mr Baines said that Mr Ron Richards, JV2’s industrial relations general manager, had been invited to attend a meeting on Monday morning to explain his company's position. Mr Richards had since sought an earlier meeting with union officials and this would be held today. An onsite meeting of JV2 carpenters was to be held at 7.30 a.m. on Monday when future action would be decided.