Man in dispute resigns

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 1

Man in dispute resigns

The man at the centre of the Toyota factory voluntary unionism dispute in Christchurch resigned from the company yesterday. About 200 car workers went on strike last Friday after a meeting and a secret strike ballot over the man’s refusal to join the Engineers’ Union in the five weeks that he had been at the Toyota factory at Sockburn. They worked a seven-hour day on Monday and Tuesday, then met again yesterday, to be told that the problem had “evaporated” with the man’s resignation from the company. The secretary of the Canterbury branch of the union, Mr R. J. Todd, said the man, who had served an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic, tendered his resignation yesterday “of his own accord.” Asked if any pressure had been brought to bear, Mr Todd emphasised that the action had been of the man’s own accord. There had been no heated talks, though there had been discussions between union officials and the man. Nor had the union asked the company to ask the man to resign, said Mr Todd.