British-style work relations advocated

Press, 10 April 1987, Page 1

British-style work relations advocated

PA Wellington New Zealand must get rid of its “mad” industrial relations system, says the Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing, Mr Moore.

Employers could benefit from British-style industrial agreements to guard against restrictive work practices, he said yesterday. Sanyo Industries U.K., Ltd, a joint British and Japanese firm, had doubled its workforce in five years and was still growing, Mr Moore said

in an address at the launching of Pacific Enzymes, Ltd, in Hamilton. “There is just one union at the plant and everyone has ‘single status’ in terms of basic conditions,” he said.

The main aim of the agreement was to ensure there were no restrictive work practices. In return, Sanyo provided secure employment and good employee relations with “proper procedures to negotiate and consult.”

“Maybe there is an idea

here for New Zealand’s new employers,” Mr Moore said. “For industries like yours to flourish, the industrial relations environment must be tidied up. “We must get rid of our ‘mad’ system.

“It is an outdated industrial relations set-up in which mad stands for ‘mutually assured destruction,’ ” Government proposals to reform industrial relations are before Parliament in the form of the Labour Relations Bill.