Right boots, wrong time

Press, 31 July 1984, Page 6

Right boots, wrong time

PA Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, in the right footwear — size 10% gumboots — chose the wrong time to call on a building site yesterday.

He arrived at “smoko” time, 3 p.m., to work the pile driver on the site for a conference centre being built by the United Food and Chemical Workers’ Union.

According to the general secretary of the union, Mr Garth Fraser, the workers had gone to another site for their afternoon tea becasue there was no electricity in their “smoko” hut.

That meant the person who usually worked the pile driver was not there to start it for Mr Lange.

He took the setback in good spirit and asked the workers who were still on the site how the pile driver worked. He also showed interest in the union’s plans for the conference centre.

Work sites in the middle of winter are muddy places so the Prime Minister’s Department made a special acquisition for the event — size 10% gumboots. A member of the department said Mr Lange was likely to get plenty of use out of them while performing official duties at similar events.

The union intends using the $1.6 million centre mainly to run trade union education courses. It would also be open to the public.