Sheltered Workshop to look into complaints

Press, 3 April 1987, Page 5

Sheltered Workshop to look into complaints

Recent criticisms of the Canterbury Sheltered Workshop Association have prompted the association’s council to set up a sub-committee to investigate the complaints. Mr Barry Rich, the association’s president, said yesterday that the council did not feel the public debate of the criticisms had been very helpful. “We want to see if we can look at some of these events ourselves in the first instance,” he said.

Among the criticisms have been staff-manage-

ment relations, applications for membership being turned down, hasty calling of the annual meeting, and banning of the staff, public and news media from the annual meeting. “We are not happy with what has been happening (the public debate) because its has not been constructive for the organisation. We do not believe it is profitable to pursue it in this way,” Mr Rich said.

The sub-committee comprises Mr Rich, the council’s two vice-presi-dents, Miss Mabel Barrett

and Mr David Sandemann; and the patron, Mr Ron Guthrey.

It was formed at the first meeting of the council elected at the association’s annual meeting.

Mr Rich said the subcommittee did not have a specific time to report back to the council and might report in stages rather than “in total.” He did not know if the report would be made public.

“The council will decide whether it will make a statement after the report, but the report will be to the council in the first instance.”