Laundry workers’ claim referred to arbitration

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 8

Laundry workers’ claim referred to arbitration

The laundry workers’ dispute, which has affected two Christchurch private hospitals, has been referred to the Arbitration Court

The employers’ advocate, Mr Alan Davis, said yesterday that the conciliator, Mr Len Fortune, had referred the dispute to the Court to assist the parties to resolve it A total of 17 laundry workers at St George’s

and Wesley hospitals who were on strike on Friday continued their strike yesterday, said Mr Davis.

The workers are striking in support of their claim for a $2O a week industry allowance and wage increases, which would give them parity with laundry workers in public hospitals.

Mr Davis said on Friday that three-quarters of the workers in commer-

cial dry-cleaning firms and private hospitals who were covered by the award had accepted an offer from the employers. The offer included an average wage rise of 17.7 per cent. Mr Davis said yesterday that only. 5 per cent of the workers .covered by the award were on strike, and he did not know of any industrial action at commercials dry-cleaning companies.?.’

“It is: a fairly ridiculous situation where only 5 per cent of the work-force are holding the rest of the work-force to ransom,” he ' said.

Mr Davis also said the strikes were illegal because the dispute was still before the conciliation council, and because private hospitals’ were an essential industry, for which 14 days notice of a strike

4ras required. 1 ? . > The manager of St George’s Hospital laundry, Mr Brian Cowan, said he had no idea when his workers would return. Volunteers again , helped yesterday, and the laundry was “coping. and nothing more,” he said. The secretary : .of the Canterbury Laundry Workers, Dyers, and Drycleaners’ Uniop, ,'Mrs Hilary Brown, said* the employers’ last offer had been rejected at a meeting of workers on January

It was not the employers’ right to speculate on how some individual workers felt, because it was a union matter, she said. •

Mrs Brown said she had not been told officially the' dispute had been referred to the Arbitration Court and could not continent.