Mr Knox "embarrassed people at conference’

Press, 28 June 1983, Page 2

Mr Knox "embarrassed people at conference’

PA Wellington The president of the Federation of Labour, Mr W. J. Knox, embarrassed people extremely during a threeweek international conference by refusing to talk to Government delegates, according to the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger. Mr Knox had “soured” the New Zealand representation, Mr Bolger told journalists on his return yesterday from the International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva. Mr Bolger said Mr Knox’s attitude started on “day one” after the F.O.L. opposed the chairmanship by Mr Bolger. “We didn’t get on ... because we did not speak to each other. Mr Knox refused to speak to me right through the conference. “He decided for whatever reason he wasn’t going to talk to me. He occasionally had a very brief word but he certainly was not in normal communication with Government delegates either.” Mr Bolger said Mr Knox’s attitude was “not embarrassing to me personally. I just viewed it with amused

detachment, but people all round him found it extremely embarrassing.” Mr Knox had been strongly critical of New Zealand at the conference on a number of issues, including apartheid and employment, said Mr Bolger. “I think you can take it as read he said nothing supportive of New Zealand in the whole conference. If he did it certainly wasn’t reported to me. “I think one of the interesting things with the Jim Knox scenario was that his criticisms were so

sweeping and so ill-based that it was patently obvious to delegates on the whole range of issues. “They saw New Zealand’s Minister of Labour chairing the conference — he didn’t have horns on, he didn’t look like he was going to grow them.even. The accusations just did not ring true.” Mr Knox had made “no impact” on the apartheid committee, “where he came out strongly critical of New Zealand — that point was not picked up in their report at all. So obviously it was discarded,” said Mr Bolger. Mr Knox had attacked the Government over “the old sporting contacts issue — the Springbok tour.” He had also asked why New Zealand was not ratifying 1.L.0. convention 87 — the freedom of association convention. Mr Bolger said New Zealand had not ratified it “because we have adopted a fairly protective approach to industrial law ... one of the protective mechanisms was to give unions the right to compulsory membership.” Mr Knox is not due home until the second week of July.