Strike stops soccer cover

Press, 12 October 1985, Page 8

Strike stops soccer cover

Coverage of the New Zea-land-Chinese Taipei soccer match in Christchurch today will be limited to television news highlights because of a strike.

The match was to be screened live but a strike by Television New Zealand’s vision controllers over a pay claim will prevent this. A series of rolling strikes by controllers throughout New Zealand during the week-end will disrupt any live or recorded programmes in selected centres.

The manager of TVNZ in Christchurch, Mr' Colin Harrison, said that the soccer coverage was almost certainly off, although handheld cameras would be used to provide limited network news highlights. TVNZ’s head of sport in Wellington, Mr Keith McEwen, said that the fee Btiised to the New ZeaFootball Association for live coverage of the match would still be paid. “It is not their fault that coverage cannot go ahead,” he said.

The planned live telecast to Taiwan was off although TVNZ would not lose money because of this, said Mr McEwen.

The senior industrial officer for the Public Service Association in Wellington, Mr Tony Simpson, said the controllers took action because TVNZ had broken a pay increase promise at a meeting on Thursday. A salary increase of up to $2400 a year was being sought by the controllers but TVNZ had offered only $l2OO to senior staff.

The dispute was long standing, said Mr Simpson. No meetings were Elanned and the ball was ack in the management’s court, he said.

Other programmes which will be affected are “McPhail and Gadsby,” “‘News Review,” and “Foreign Correspondent.” Mr Harrison said, however, that planned coverage of the New Zealand squash final and rugby league Tusk Cup final from Auckland tomorrow was likely to go ahead.