Govt adamant on freeze

Press, 14 April 1984, Page 1

Govt adamant on freeze

PA Wellington The Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, said last evening there could be no question of lifting the wage freeze or considering any general exemptions. New Zealand Forest Products had not lodged an application for an across-the-board exemption to the wage freeze regulations, he said. The company was seeking an exemption relating to the. modernisation programme at the Kinleith Pulp Mill, but no more than that. “The application that has been lodged will be considered by the Government in the normal way. “I have already made it abundantly clear that there can be no question of lifting the freeze or considering anv sort of general exemption. . „ “I can say categorically that such an application would be declined. “Given the fundamental importance to all New

Zealanders of containing inflation and encouraging employment growth we simply cannot afford to add any inflationary pressures to the economy,” he said. The company has also written to the Prime Minister, Sir Robert. Muldoon, urging the Government to expedite the union-employer-Government talks on a new bargaining system

so direct bargaining could resume as soon as possible. The Employers’ Federation’s president, Mr Garry Tait, has described the letter as distressing. It did not reflect a widely held viewpoint in employer ranks, he said. The Labour Party yesterday praised Forest Products for seeking a return to wage negotiations with its employees. The Opposition’s spokesman on labour, Mr E. E. Isbey, said that the company should be commended for its appreciation of the “blatant injustice of the National Governmentimposed ?8-a-week wage rise." Mr Isbey said New Zealand must be the only country among similar Western nations where wage rises i were issued by Prime Ministerial proclamation. “The investment of such great powers in the hands of one man is a disaster for our economy and our system of industrial relations.”