No appeal over exemption

Press, 17 January 1986, Page 1

No appeal over exemption

No appeal will be lodged against the decision to grant a Christchurch cleaner exemption from membership of a union because of its Labour Party affiliation. The assistant secretary of the Canterbury Caretakers and Cleaners’ Union, Mr Trevor Smith, said the time and expense of appealing to the Arbitration Court was not worth the risk of losing the case.

The Union Exemption Tribunal ruled that Mr Peter Oakley did not have to belong to the union because of its affiliation and financial support for the Labour Party which had policies he objected to. Appeals could be made if further exemptions were made on similar grounds, said Mr Smith.

In spite of the granting of the exemption, there had been no more applications

to the tribunal made by union members giving similar reasons, he said. . “It caused us some concern but the reasons for granting it were fairly silly,” said Mr Smith. Legal costs for an appeal that could last up to two weeks would far exceed the $75 a year lost in union fees and the precedent set was not a big issue, said Mr Smith. Lawyers for the Federation of Labour in Christchurch had been consulted before the decision not to appeal was made. The tribunal’s secretary, Mrs Pat McNamee, said that while there had been a number of inquiries about Mr Oakley’s case only two more applications for union exemptions had been received since the beginning of the month.