Feltex strike finishes

Press, 22 September 1987, Page 7

Feltex strike finishes

By

RICHARD CRESSWELL,

industrial reporter

A national redundancy agreement for members of the Woollen Workers’ Union can be negotiated now that their strike is over.

The general manager of Feltex’s New Zealand Carpets Group, Mr Barry Turley, said the strikers voted to return to work yesterday.

The company had held back from entering the negotiations until the 800 striking employees went back to work in Auckland, Foxton, Wellington, and Christchurch. National and Canterbury representatives of the Woollen Workers’ Union were in Auckland yesterday to begin the redundancy talks.

The strike, initially labelled “New Zealand’s best-kept secret,” lasted a fortnight and is believed to have cost the company work orders, and overseas customer good will.

Feltex has made redundancy payments to the laid-off workers at the Riccarton plant, including 73 woollen workers. But the union has been seeking increased redundancy pay, and the right to negotiate about changes introduced by Feltex for the plant’s work processes. Mr Turley would not comment on whether the company would take legal action against the union. According to the company, its right to make changes at the plant had been supported by a Labour Court decision in August last year.