Drivers seek wage round

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 1

Drivers seek wage round

The Drivers’ Federation will not wait until next year for a wage round to redress what its secretary calls a “gross injustice.” Mr H. S. McCaffley said in Christchurch yesterday after the federation’s annual conference that the feeling of injustice was not confined just to union officials. It had come from the rank and file, who felt that the wages that they were being paid, even after the Government’s $8 a week cost-of-living order, did not match the work they were doing. The conference decided that the federation would lodge claims with the employers nationally, while affiliated drivers’ unions and individual work sites would lodge claims with road transport associations and individual employers.

The size of the wage increase sought would be determined in the next few weeks in the light of recent price increases and other factors, said Mr McCaffley. It would probably be higher than the $l7 to $35 a week which the Federation of Labour had thought would be needed, he said. The Drivers’ Federation conference also agreed to help owner-drivers to set up their own organisation independent of the Road Transport Federation. Among the other resolutions passed was one which was strongly supported by the Canterbury Drivers’ Union — the need for a national code of practice for the ready-mix concrete industry, to promote better safety standards for drivers of the trucks.