Over to the Ministers

Press, 7 June 1983, Page 20

Over to the Ministers

The manning dispute that has prevented the delivery of alumina to the Tiwai Point smelter at Bluff has been passed to the Ministers of Transport of New Zealand and Australia. This has at least bought time. Time was particularly important because of the continuous nature of the smelting process. If supply had been interrupted, the company might have shut off some or all of its plant, with incalculable results for employment, future smelting, and export earnings for New Zealand. Industrial disputes often have an element of crisis about them which is used by the disputing parties to serve their ends. In this instance, the crisis was heightened by the large number of people employed, by the time it takes for a smelter to get back into production, and the significance of aluminium in New Zealand’s exports. For the next six weeks supplies appear to be assured. The dispute is about whether the new bulk carrier for alumina, the Alltrans, will employ New Zealand officers as well as Australian officers. The Australian Merchant Service Guild and the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild appear bent on confronting one another. In theory, at least, the difference is something that the two unions and the company should be able to work out. To pass the detail of such a dispute to two Ministers is an undesirable precedent. Ministers of Transport should be concerning themselves with making sure transport is adequate, efficient, and serving the needs of their countries. They should be concerned with making sure that machinery is sufficient to settle any disputes but not be involved in the disputes themselves. Industrial disputes frequently have a mass of complex details that have to be taken account of in any sound solution. This is work that has to be done; it is not work for a Minister, though the demand for Government intervention is persistent and has had to be answered many times. The importance of New Zealand’s exports of aluminium cannot be questioned. The Reserve Bank figure for 1982 for exports of base metals and manufactures of metals is $360 million. Aluminium is by far the largest component of this' total. The figure is $3O million above that for 1981 and the increase can be attributed solely to the manufacturing of metals. During 1982 the export of base metals declined by 8 per cent. The volume of exports during 1983 was expected to increase substantially because of the commissioning of the third potline at Tiwai Point. Such a hope cannot be fulfilled unless there is an assured supply of alumina from Australia.

One of the unfortunate aspects of the dispute is that it is between Australian and New Zealand unions. New Zealanders and Australians have the right to live and work in either country. While this undoubtedly has some benefit for the manufacturers and other employers of both countries, it has widespread benefits for those employed as well, in terms of opportunity, choice of place to live, choice of company or other employer, and in choice of type of work. These are benefits at times of high unemployment just as they are at times of more employment. New Zealand and Australian industrial unions will have to learn to get along with one another and to make accommodation for one another’s members. One of the immediate principles that should be adopted is that New Zealand and Australian unions should not treat citizens of the other country as foreigners. This principle is not observed in another dispute, at Marsden Point, where the Federation of Labour makes no distinction between Australians and others from outside New Zealand. New Zealand and Australian unions will eventually have to become accustomed to the freedom of transTasman employment and movement between jobs. Such freedom of movement may be essential to continued employment as some projects finish and others begin. Besides the lowering of tariffs and the gradual removal of other barriers to imports embodied in the Closer Economic Relations agreement, a number of other adaptations within the two countries are going to be needed. Some of these may work themselves out as the need arises. Some may require the establishment of new institutions. The manning dispute is not a simple matter of pay or conditions, which are the traditional concerns of unions. This kind of dispute may increase if C.E.R. is not accompanied by closer union relations. Engaging Mr Gair, the New Zealand Minister of Transport, and Mr Morris, his Australian counterpart, will not have been wasteful if, as well as concerning themselves with manning levels of ships darrying alumina, they give some thought to, and make recommendations about, procedures for settling any differences between unions. This would be more properly the work of the New Zealand Minister of Labour and the Australian Minister for Industrial Relations. The Merchant Service Guilds of New Zealand and Australia, who will have to enter the discussions and negotiations, may also be able to lead the way to a better model for future relationships.