Unions urged to continue talks

Press, 10 November 1986, Page 1

Unions urged to continue talks

PA Wellington State sector unions should continue negotiating with State-owned enterprise boards for at least another two weeks before contemplating industrial action, said the Minister of State Services, Mr Rodger, yesterday. He was responding to warnings by both the Public Service Association and Post Office Union of protest action about the lack of progress in talks on transitional arrangexments when members transfer to new corporations next year. Mr Rodger, speaking from Dunedin, said such talk by unions was prema-

ture because union negotiations with the boards overseeing the new structures were still at preliminary stages. Talks with the Energy Corporation were close to being finalised, although negotiations with other corporations were not as advanced. The P.S.A. and Post Office-’ Union- say- ’tifdy have made no progress in talks with any of the three corporations to replace the Post Office, or the Airways . Corporation board.

Mr Rodger suggested some of the union claims were exaggerated. “They are projecting a

negotiating position of the corporations as a final position whereas there are further meetings to be held in which I would expect to see some shift in positions,” he said. However, the president of the Public Service Association, Mr Colin Hicks, said he believed "Mr Rodger -was being “exceedingly optimistic” if he thought the corporations were prepared to be more flexible. “If you start off, as the Forestry Corporation has,

indicating they want to deny union coverage to 90 per cent of their staff, that leaves a huge gulf

which cannot be bridged through the negotiating process.

“We don’t believe the corporations are earnest in trying to reach some agreement with us on this matter — the indication we have is that they don’t want to talk with us at all,” Mr Hicks said. Mr Rodger said the Government . did not_ accept it was responsible for negotiating with the unions on existing jobs and conditions during a transition between April 1 next year and the 1987 wage round.

The Government believed it was more important for the workers to

hold talks with their ultimate employers.

“We have said that if negotiations fail or break down they should come back to us and share their concerns.

“We don’t believe they have reached that stage yet because they are still in preliminary negotiations,” Mr Rodger said. ..Mr Hicks saidjhe P.S.A. was under pressure from its membership to move “reasonably quickly” because many employees had no idea whether they would keep existing jobs, pay, conditions, and union membership once the new corporations were established.