Carpet workers settle

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 9

Carpet workers settle

Carpet workers at U.E.B. Industries, Ltd, will get a pay increase of about 10 per cent for a 12-month term.

The company and ‘ the Carpet Workers’ Union had agreed to a 10 per cent wage increase for tradesmen, said the union’s national secretary, Mr Paddy O’Flanagan, yesterday.

The settlement with U.E.B. included the removal of several “anomalies” that had bothered the union for some years, he said. The union has been negotiating with individual carpet companies since their national award talks broke down.

A technology payment, to

cover the introduction of new technology, and a payment to bring carpet workers more into line with other employees in the same company, were included in the settlement.

Workers at the Feltex factory in Riccarton are expected to return to work on Tuesday after a threeday strike in protest against that company’s refusal to agree to the union’s

claims. Mr O’Flanagan said that Feltex had offered a 9.83 per cent increase for 15 months. It was now offering 10.4 per cent for the highestpaid workers for a 12-month term, but it was not prepared to address the anomalies in the award. It was the lower-paid workers that the union was particularly concerned about, he said.