Canty workers first for action?

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 1

Canty workers first for action?

Warehouse workers and freight-forwarding workers in Canterbury may be fifst to take industrial action to support the Federation of Labour’s campaign for $2O a week wage rise. The members of the Can-, terbury andWestland Stores, Packing, and Warehouse Wdrkers’ Union voted at their annual meeting last month to hold a meeting to vote on industrial action when called upon by the F.O.L. Their secretary, Mr P. E. Piesse, said after the annual meeting that many of the members were becoming angry, and he warned of “some pretty profound social disruptions” unless something reasonable was done to improve their lot.

The first union to meet in Canterbury, however, will be the Canterbury Shop Employees’ Union. It will hold its annual meeting in the

Christchurch Town Hall on Tuesday. An indication of the importance being attached to the meeting is that the new vice-president of the F.0.L., Mrs Sonja Davies, who is the national union’s industrial officer, will address it, along with the advocate, Mr R. J. Campbell. Co-ordination, of Canterbury’s action is expected to take place after the next meeting of the Canterbury Trades Council, at the end of this month. Before then, officials of unions affiliated to the F.O.L. are expected to call meetings of their members to explain the F.O.L. policy and ask them to vote on what action they want to take. The president of the Wellington Trades Council, Mr P. J. Kelly, said that a meeting would be held about the middle of next week to organise the cam-

paign ot go-slows and brief strikes throughout the Wellington region. Some unions took up the call to serve claims for an immediate $2O increase before the conference ended yesterday. The secretary of the Hast-ings-based Freezing Works Clerical Officers’ Union, Mr M. Cullen, served a claim on the Freezing Companies Association soon after the conference endorsed the action resolution on Thursday. The Shop Employees’ Association approached the Retailers’ Federation in an endeavour to set up a meeting for next week to discuss the proposed extension of the wage freeze. Late in the week, Clothing Workers’ Union and Engineers’ Union representatives also filed claims with the Employers’ Federation in anticipation of the possibility of the lifting of the freeze on June 22.