Wage round moans ‘had hollow ring’

Press, 18 February 1986, Page 20

Wage round moans ‘had hollow ring’

PA Wellington The Leader of the Opposition’s "wails and moans” about the wage round had a very hollow ring to them, said the chairman of the Combined State Unions, Mr Ron Burgess. Mr McLay had been a senior member of the Government which imposed the wage freeze in 1982 and kept it in place well beyond the point when it became an absurdity, Mr Burgess said. “As the freeze continued we warned about the build-up of stresses and anomalies and tried to get the Government to move back to normality," he said. "The Government refused to heed our advice. Mr McLay was a senior member of that Government and must bear full responsibility for his role in going along with the freeze. “What is happening now is an adjustment of the order that we warned about. “It is quite Inadequate for Mr McLay to wail and moan about a result that he should have expected and which his Government helped to generate.” Mr Burgess said the biggest breach of the intentions of the wage freeze happened in the managerial ranks in the private sector as identified by the Higher Salaries Commission. “If Mr McLay has any cause for complaint let him take it to the boardrooms of this country’s businesses,” he said. “His complaints simply do not stand scrutiny in the public area.”