Marsden Pt men reject ‘impossible’ conditions

Press, 30 May 1984, Page 1

Marsden Pt men reject ‘impossible’ conditions

PA Whangarei Marsden Point refinery expansion management yesterday set out conditions to unions for allowing the work-force back on the site — including the acceptance of the eight men who sparked last week’s strike.

The management also wants unions to remove black bans, overtime bans, and end restrictive working practices before it rehires the 2000 workers sacked last Friday. Marsden Refinery Constructors (M.R.C.) said in a letter to the combined unions yesterday that it had become impossible to build the refinery because of industrial action. But the conditions were described as “impossible” by a union spokesman, Mr Alex Maclean, yesterday afternoon. Union officials are still discussing the letter, which they received only 10 minutes before a mass meeting of workers yesterday morning. They have called another meeting for Friday. Mr Maclean said the union had expected to see the conditions at least two hours before the meeting, and it did not have a chance to evaluate them before yesterday’s meeting. The Federation of Labour

executive discussed the dispute during its fortnightly meeting in Wellington yesterday. The secretary, Mr K. G. Douglas, said he would be getting in touch with the general manager of the refinery expansion constructors’ group, Mr David Beldotti, this morning. Mr Douglas said union representatives of the expansion site workers sacked on Friday had been in touch with the F.O.L. yesterday. The F.O.L. had not been asked to take over the dispute, he said. Social Credit’s spokesman on industrial relations and the candidate for Whangarei, Mr Chris Leitch, attended yesterday’s mass meeting. He said later that M.R.C. management needed to show a far greater degree of interest and attention to detail in meetings and communication with the site unions. The management must clearly detail what it saw as the issues which it

wanted resolved, he said. The management’s failure to meet deadlines and set definite meeting times was also cause for concern. The unions needed to resolve the dispute involving the scaffolders, he said. It should have been settled long ago to avoid any possibility of its being used as justification for action by M.R.C. or the unions. “The Whangarei community as a whole has too much to lose to allow this dispute to continue,” said Mr Leitch. The M.R.C. work-force was sacked after striking last Wednesday over the return of eight scaffolders with whom union members refuse to work. The scaffolders allegedly broke union rules, but when ‘they took their case to court an Auckland High Court judge ordered that they be allowed back on site. Another 1000 people working on site for subcontractors have not been sacked but are on strike from Wednesday’s vote. Copy of letter, page 3