Economic policies mirror those of U.K. Govt—claim

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 6

Economic policies mirror those of U.K. Govt—claim

PA Wellington New Zealand’s economic policies mirrored those of the Right-wing British Administration and would have the same “devastating” impact, said a Wellington trade unionist, Mr Pat Kelly, yesterday.

Mr Kelly, who has just returned from a visit to Britain, said parts of southern England, particularly round London, were experiencing a financial boom while the north was facing poverty on a scale similar to the Depression of the 19305.

A similar contrast could be seen in New Zealand, where Auckland was experiencing affluence and other parts of the country, poverty, he said. Nearly eight million Britons, mostly in the north, were living below

the poverty line and many people in their early 50s had lost jobs, with no prospect of working again. In New Zealand, redundancies were becoming a catch cry and many work-ing-class families held out little hope of seeing teenagers get permanent, fulltime work. Britain had no national awards system and the trade union movement was losing members “hand over fist” while non-union shops were springing up all over the place, Mr Kelly said. “There is a fear among workers that unions can’t protect them any longer — especially as a result of the long-running miners’ dispute plus the Warrington and Wapping newspaper disputes.”

But the trade union movement was now grap-

pling with the issue and was starting to fight back for union coverage. Mr Kelly said it was disquieting and disgraceful that the Government was plannihg to introduce the British industrial relations system. Well organised shops were able to negotiate good deals for British workers but others outside those groups fared worse.

He cited the case of one of his brothers, working seven nights a week as a petrol station attendant, who earned only £3400 ($9520) net a year. His brother fared particularly badly because petrol attendants were hard to organise into a shop. “That is what this Government is attempting to impose on trade unionists here.”