Wage claim decried

Press, 21 March 1983, Page 6

Wage claim decried

PA Auckland The president of the Auckland Employers’ Association, Mr Peter Johnson, has attacked the campaign in support of the Federation of Labour’s claim for a $2O a week wage rise. “The orchestration of stop-work meetings to establish support for $2O a week is a loser for both the employer and his employees,” he said. “Any stoppage by one worker for one day causes a loss three times the claim.” Mr Johnson said that lost productive time and lost wages would finally have to be accounted for.

“Any loss of that time is an increased cost to an employer that reduces his competitiveness. Employees must appreciate that their undertaking will finally be profitable or unprofitable. It needs their support to survive. “As a survivor it can grow stronger and continue to provide employment and expect to increase employment opportunities.” t

Mr Johnson said that wages lost through strikes and stop-work meetings took buying power out of circulation. “Since the gross average weekly wage, including overtime, is about $3OO a week, any action by one worker for one day is a

gross wage loss of $6O. “It is obvious that a return to established procedures for the resolving of disputes and a preparedness to work within the sanctity of an award will do more for New Zealand than stopwork meetings to support a $2O a week claim.”