Undue influence claim by N.U.R.

Press, 12 June 1984, Page 5

Undue influence claim by N.U.R.

PA Wellington The Picton ferry dispute took a new turn yesterday when the National Union of Railwaymen claimed that the Railways Corporation was trying to induce workers to leave the union. The general secretary of the N.U.R., Mr Don Goodfellow, said the corporation sent a letter to Picton railwaymen advising that all N.U.R. members would be paid only for time worked. They would not be paid a minimum 40 hour-a-week wage unless their rostered hours of work amounted to

40 hours. The letter breached the conditions of employment of the workers and the Industrial Relations Act by excluding union members from a condition of employment which non-union members continued to recover, Mr Goodfellow said. The union’s allegations of unlawful discrimination and undue influence were outlined in a letter sent yesterday to the Acting Minister of Railways, Mr Thomson. The union said that because the corporation was an instrument of the execu-

tive government, any prosecution for breaches of the regulations would be an action against the Crown. “I therefore felt obliged to draw your attention to the situation before the union takes any further steps,” the letter said. Mr Thomson was not available for comment last evening. The meeting between union officials and the corporation is due to go ahead in Wellington today. Ferry services continued yesterday with what a corporation official reported as “Only normal disruption.”