Cement shortage halts building

Press, 9 February 1985, Page 3

Cement shortage halts building

Work on Christchurch construction sites, including projects such as the new Christchurch Hospital building, is being held up by a shortage of cement. The shortage has been caused by a strike at the Cape Foulwind cement works of New Zealand Cement Holdings, Ltd, at Westport. The workers went on strike at the end of January after their award talks failed to reach settlement. Four out of five of the main ready-mix companies had already run out of cement yesterday, said the chairman of the Northern South Island Ready-mix Association, Mr Finlay Mackenzie. His firm, Certified Concrete, Ltd, would run out on Monday. By next week there would be no supplies of cement in Christchurch and it would take two or three days to get stocks in once the works started production. The lack of cement would bring the

whole building industry to a halt, he said.

The vice-president of the Master Builders’ Association, Mr Graham Armitage, said the strike had little effect until yesterday, but now most concrete supply firms were running out. It would have a serious effect on all commercial work in Christchurch.

Construction companies could direct their staff to do other work in the meantime, but the shortage would delay work on projects such as the new Christchurch Hospital building and the Southern Cross Hospital extensions, which were at the foundation stage. .Mr Kelvin Williams, the contracts manager of Fletcher Construction, Ltd, which has the contract for the Christchurch Hospital building foundations, said the project had reached a crucial stage. Concrete was due to be poured at 11 a.m. on Monday, but none was available

from the firm’s usual suppliers. Staff could carry on with other work, but the project would be badly affected if there was no concrete in three or four days.

Industry spokesmen said that no positive moves towards a settlement of the dispute were made yesterday. The Labourers’ Union advocate, Mr Stephen O’Reilly, was still in Westport and could not be reached for comment. The managing director of New Zealand Cement Holdings, Ltd, Mr D. M. Wilson, is in Australia and no-one else from the company could comment. He will return to Christchurch tomorrow. Members of both the Labourers’ Union and the engineers’ Union at the Cape Foulwind works are on strike. It is believed they seek wage parity with workers at the Portland cement works at Whangarei and the Tarakohe works at Golden Bay.