Mr Gair attacks wage round

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 18

Mr Gair attacks wage round

PA Wellington The Government must now acknowledge that the wage round had become a “20 per cent plus” affair, said the Opposition spokesman on industrial relations, > Mr George Gair. Mr Gair was commenting on the pre-Christmas announcement that some State employees will receive pay increases of 20 per cent and more. “All the brave words by the Finance Ministers of tight money supply and squeezing employers who paid more than the 10 to 12 per cent talked about as the desirable upper limit figure only five months ago are ‘down the chute’,” he said. The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, had lambasted employers’ representatives in the electrical talks as chihauhaus. “Does he propose to chastise his own colleagues who made final settlements for State employees well above the 15.5 per cent of the electrical settlement?” he said. Mr Gair said the history of the wage round must qualify as a major black

mark against the Government’s economic performance. The price to be paid in inflation and unemployment would nof become clear until next year, he said.