Marsden work relations ‘tense’

Press, 24 January 1985, Page 11

Marsden work relations ‘tense’

PA Auckland The Engineers’ Union says that industrial relations at the Marsden Point refinery expansion site are at a low ebb. Counsel for the union, Mr Murray Edwards, has told the one-man committee of inquiry into industrial relations at Marsden Point, Dr Martyn Finlay, Q.C., that an undercurrent of tension prevails. “The Marsden Point site has been affected by inefficient and badly directed industrial relations management,” said Mr Edwards. He alleged that the company management had no appreciation of industrial

relations systems and the role of unions. It treated workers inconsistently. No industrial relations existed between the parties on the site, he said. The Whangarei Refinery Expansion Project Disputes Act had resulted in an undercurrent of tension. Apathy was prevalent among the work force, said Mr Edwards. Marsden Refinery Constructors had used the legislation to intimidate and threaten workers, prejudicing worker and union interests, he said. The company, he said, had also increasingly abrogated its industrial management responsibilities to the civil courts and procedures.