P.S.A. to decide its election-year stance

Press, 9 March 1987, Page 8

P.S.A. to decide its election-year stance

PA Wellington The 73,000-member Public Service Association is likely to determine its election year stance towards the Labour Government at meetings throughout the country this week, said the president, Mr Colin Hicks, yesterday.

The nation’s largest union opposed the Muldoon Government and supported Labour at the last election in 1984 but now has severe differences with the Lange Government.

“It is not wise, always, to disaffect them as they are influential,” Mr Hicks said of the P.S.A. membership. "There is a very large voting population employed in the State.”

But like the Federation of Labour, which last week made a signigicant declaration of qualified support for the Government, the P.S.A. almost certainly will not oppose Labour when it comes to the election campaign crunch. There will still be strong criticism of the Government voiced at the P.S.A. annual meeting during the week and likely support for industrial action.

“There is quite a strong feeling of disaffection,” Mr Hicks said. Members will vote on four resolutions opposing proposed new State payfixing negotiations and compulsory redundancies and supporting pay claims and protest rallies.

"If we get a strong

reaction it will give us a platform,” Mr Hicks said.

“The P.S.A. hasn’t taken a decision as it did last time.

“The effect of the Government policies on the State-owned enterprises has been disastrous to date. We don’t know what’s down the track, and we are still to go through a State pay round.

“The Government, either through design or incompetence, has not produced any offers on the State pay round. "These increases are now months overdue.”

But in spite of the strained relations, the P.S.A., like the Federation of Labour, has little political choice. “The latest utterances of Mr Bolger from London

go a lot further on the privatisation of the State services,” Mr Hicks said.

“That leaves us with a feeling we certainly don’t want to go down the road.

“But we have no control over the individuals when they get the pencil in their hands in the ballot box.”

The Government will be under fire at a large protest rally in Huntly today, involving workers to be made redundant with the virtual halving of the workforce in the new Coal Corporation. The compulsory redundancies, a lack of consultation and the setting up of the new corporations will be discussed between the P.S.A. and the State Services Commission at a meeting planned for Thursday.