Breakdown in electronics award talks

Press, 11 October 1986, Page 8

Breakdown in electronics award talks

PA Wellington Talks in the electronics award adjourned for a month last evening after union and employer assessors failed to agree. Expectations of a settlement were raised early in the evening when out-of-town assessors cancelled flights and prepared for a further bout of hard bargaining. The talks adjourned, however, just before 9 p.m. when the Electrical Workers’ Union and employer representatives failed to agree on a percentage wage rise.

It is believed that the talks had considerably reduced the gap between the union’s initial 18 per cent claim and the employers’ undisclosed, but low, offer. Negotiations are believed to have stalled about 5 per cent, 1 per cent lower than the trend-setting general drivers’ award settlement earlier this week. The electronics award is not a traditional trendsetter in wage rounds and the union will probably be relieved to find itself out of the limelight. Employer and union re-

presentatives have remained out of the public eye during the five days of conciliation, spread over a three-week period. The electronics industry has been especially affected by economic circumstances and faces big changes in the next 12 months. Speaking after the adjournment, the employers’ advocate, Mr Mike Hanson, confirmed that agreement was "very close.” "But of course, the last bit (of negotiating) is always the hardest,” he said.