Meatworks dispute parties to meet

Press, 26 March 1986, Page 1

Meatworks dispute parties to meet

By

PATRICIA HERBERT

in Wellington

The parties to the freezing industry dispute will meet tomorrow at the Beehive under the chairmanship of the Minister of Labour, Mr Rodger. The meeting, which was called at the request of the unions, will begin at 9.30 a.m. and is expected to go through to midday. Mr Rodger said he had decided to call the meeting because “nothing much seemed to be happening on either side,” and because they were both “pretty well dug in their trenches.” He seemed to have expected some progress towards a solution after the meat workers reduced their pay claims dramatically last week, but this

failed to happen. "After such a long delay, it seemed appropriate to bring them in and ask them to articulate their respective positions, and then just see whether we can see any procedural avenues,” Mr Rodger said.

This may include either going back into conciliation or referring the case to the Arbitration Court, but Mr Rodger does not expect any breakthrough to be achieved tomorrow.

He indicated yesterday that there would probably be a need for further informal meetings. Yesterday both Mr Peter Blomfield, executive director of the Meat Industry Association, and Mr A. J. Kennedy, national secretary of the Meat Workers’ Union, said they wanted an end to the dispute, now a month old.

Mr . Blomfield said tomorrow’s meeting had every chance of bringing

a solution. The union should go back to work so that a solution could be reached by conciliation. This was essential and the only way a solution could be reached, he said. Mr Kennedy said he would wait and see what the meeting brought. The employers had shown no sign of giving way on demands, and union meetings throughout New Zealand had voted in support of the workers’ stand.