P.S.A. silent on threat

Press, 21 October 1983, Page 1

P.S.A. silent on threat

PA Wellington The Public Service Association was silent last evening in the face of a threat by the Government to strip State workers of their union rights when Parliament sits today.

The confrontation with the Government over planned industrial action by electrical workers was discussed by P.S.A. executive members at a meeting in Wellington last evening. But the meeting ended without an announcement on what the P.S.A. intends to do about the Government’s threat to introduce a bill which would effectively deregister the State union.

Asked if the Government would wait until Parliament sat at 9.30 a.m. today before deciding whether to introduce legislation, the Minister of State Services, Mr Thomson, told NZPA last evening, “A decision has been made already. They (the P.S.A.) know that.” P.S.A. representatives are expected to meet Mr Thomson at 9 a.m. today.

The P.S.A. said it would hold a press conference today an hour after Parliament met. Mr Thomson said last evening that he had amended a 1979 P.S.A. deregistration bill to make it clear that the provisions applied to essential indus- i tries. The Public Service Association Withdrawal of Recognition Bill was introduced in Parliament in 1979 and then withdrawn. It would have allowed the Minister of State Services to withdraw recognition from the P.S.A. as the negotiating body for State servants — effectively deregistering it. Under the bill, the Minister would be able to withdraw recognition from the P.S.A. if he was satisfied that any “discontinuance of employment” had caused or was likely to cause serious loss or inconvenience, and that it was brought about wholly or partly by the P.S.A. or its members. The P.S.A.’s 1200 electrical workers plan to cut power generation 25 per cent for two hours over four days in protest against Government legislation changing the basis of fixing State workers’ pay rates.

The Government’s threat to withdraw recognition of the P.S.A. was a sign of desperation unacceptable in a democracy, the Labour Party said yesterday. The electricity workers at the centre of the threat had planned modest action and the P.S.A. had given the legally required 14 days notice, said the Opposition’s spokesman on State services, Ms Fran Wilde.