Provocation seen in refinery sacking

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 17

Provocation seen in refinery sacking

P A Wellington A British rigger was sacked from the Marsden Point oil refinery expansion site in what unions see as provocation by the consortium building the expansion. “But we are not biting,” union sources said. They did not want to say why the rigger was sacked on Monday. It is believed the man was one of 16 English riggers brought to the project by Marsden Refinery Constructors at a cost of $1 million in 1982.

Many of the immigrant riggers have already left of their own accord. Union sources also claimed that a cross-section of other workers employed at the site had been sacked for various reasons since work resumed on Wednesday of last week after the 2%-week dispute. They claimed field supervisors were also leaving of their own accord because they did not like the consortium’s

attitude since work restarted.

The field supervisors had been instructed to “come down hard” on the workforce and then let up gradually, said a union source who did not want to be named.

The union sources said no conclusions were reached at an all-day meeting on the site on Monday between the secretary of the Federation of Labour, Mr Ken Douglas, officials and delegates of the unions whose members work for the consortium, and M.R.C. management.

Unions representing workers employed by subcontractors on the site were not included in the meeting. The Carpenters’ Union delegate, Mr Brian Faircloth, said the company rejected all proposals put forward by the combined unions and the F.O.L.

These proposals included dealing with problems as they occurred on the site, rather than leaving them to be solved under a more

involved disputes procedure. Mr Faircloth said Mr Douglas would send another letter to M.R.C. management this week to clarify Tuesday’s talks.

He wondered whether the consortium’s attitude, if it did not want to sort out problems as they arose on the site before they became a dispute, was one of provocation. Was the sacking of the British rigger on Monday an indication of that?

The F.O.L. has asked unions “not to respond to that provocation.”

Another union source said the consortium wanted continuity of work on the site “no matter what.”

No response was available from M.R.C. to the unions’ claims.