Marathon session gets Clyde deal

Press, 20 August 1983, Page 3

Marathon session gets Clyde deal

PA Dunedin The Clyde dam site agreement negotiations were concluded early yesterday morning after a marathon 21 hour non-stop session in Dunedin.

The agreement, between unions and the joint venture contractor, Zublin-William-son, was reached after nine months of negotiations.

Last week the unions agreed to negotiate and lifted bans against the company, and this week settled the issue after 15 hours of argument on Wednesday and 21 hours on Thursday, finishing at 6 a.m. yesterday.

The unions originally sought the core rate for North Island energy projects of $6.45 an hour plus a

site allowance of $2.33 an hour. All other pay rates are a percentage above or below the core figure. On top of that the unions sought 15 per cent for inflation. The company refused to pay those rates. Eventually its offer matched the same rates as workers building the third potline at the Tiwai Point smelter. That amounted to $6.14 an hour core rate plus $1.24 an hour site allowance.

During the nine months, the unions dropped their 15 per cent inflation claim, and became vague about which North Island energy project rate they would settle for. Neither party yesterday would say anything about the specific terms of the agreement.

However, sources close to both parties agreed that a core rate between $6.35 and $6.45 an hour had been struck, with a site allowance closer to the Tiwai figure than to the original claim.

The Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, said he was pleased an agreement had been reached.

“We needed an agreement that was realistic and hopefully this one is.” It is expected the workers will now be told the details of the agreement, which must then be approved by the one-man wage freeze authority before ratification by the Arbitration Court. This will take two to three weeks before the details can be made public.