Glenbrook jobs drive defended by union

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 11

Glenbrook jobs drive defended by union

PA Wellington The Electrical Workers’ Union has taken issue with electrical employers for voicing opposition to a national campaign to attract electricians to the Glenbrook steel expansion site.

New Zealand Steel and several big site contractors are offering wages of up to $l5OO a week and free accommodation in an attempt to recruit more than 180 electrical tradesmen.

The Electrical Contractors’ Federation president, Mr John Howarth, said the campaign was irresponsible and site employers were offering excessive rates at a time when every other em-

ployer and union had been showing restraint. “If they succeed in recruiting the staff they need, there will be a massive shortage of tradesmen throughout the rest of the industry,” Mr Howarth said. He also said that tradesmen should be aware they would be leaving secure jobs and homes for temporary employment on a "strife-torn” site. The Electrical Workers’ Union’s national secretary, Mr John Fisher, said there was nothing unrealistic about the wages offered by N.Z. Steel because the site agreement provided roughly the same sort of money paid on most other “think big” projects.