Cafeteria staff wage action off in meantime

Press, 25 February 1986, Page 6

Cafeteria staff wage action off in meantime

Industrial action by tearooms and cafetaria workers in Christchurch has been called off. However, the disputes committee of workers in the industry wants a week-long national stoppage if wage talks planned for next week are unsuccessful.

The secretary of the Canterbury Hotel Workers’ Union, Mr Martin Moodie, said that a telephone .conference would be held among disputes committees from the hotel unions to decide

whether there was support for the call for a national week-long strike. Mr Moodie said that by "successful” the union meant the employers

must concede the union claim for a base rate of $6 an hour, representing

an increase of 23.4 per cent on the award rate. The unions also wanted a big lift in penal pay rates. He said the employers’ offer of 19 per cent had been tied to a counterclaim that a clause guaranteeing four hours’ pay on any shift be de-

leted. "At the moment an employer must give four hours unless he has a permit from the union to employ someone for fewer hours,” said Mr Moodie.

“The employers want that clause done away with. If it were, the unions would be selling a vital protection too cheaply,” he said.

The wage talks will resume in Christchurch on March 4 and 5.