Marsden row unresolved

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 4

Marsden row unresolved

PA Auckland Four hours of talks late yesterday failed to resolve the row over safety which triggered a strike by the 1700 workers at the Marsden Point oil refinery extensions site. An industrial conciliator, Mr John Bufton, was called in by the Whangarei Trades Council to assist with the talks between the JV2 consortium and officials of the combined site unions.

The parties were unable to reach agreement on three points put forward earlier in the week as possible settlement terms. The stoppage, which the unions regard as an “evacuation,” began on June 16 after an explosion in the site control office building which injured four men. The chairman of the union site committee, Mr W. T. Boyle, said last evening that the unions hoped to meet a senior Labour De-

partment safety inspector who will visit the project today. “We intend to ask him if he can give us something in writing to say that the site is safe,” said Mr Boyle. “If not, then we will ask if it is not unreasonable for some form of constant gas monitoring to take place.” A spokesman for JV2 said last evening that the consortium could not agree that continuous or daily testing of the open construction

site, which was not deemed necessary by the Labour Department, would improve safety on the site. “The consortium is fully complying with the safety procedures required by the department, and in many respects is exceeding them,” he said. “In the areas designated by the department for twohourly testing 19 individual points tested have consistently shown a zero reading.”