Another union severs party tie

Press, 27 July 1989, Page 1

Another union severs party tie

By

RICHARD CRESSWELL

The 18,000-member Distribution and General Workers’ Union has voted to withdraw its affiliation to the Labour Party.

The decision was announced yesterday by the union’s general secretary, Mr Paul Piesse. Only a comparatively small percentage of the union’s membership voted. Mr Piesse said just under 900 turned up at stop-work meetings, with 67 per cent voting against continued affiliation.

“Not so many members attended the stop-work meetings as we had hoped,” he said.

The union is a member of the Distribution Workers’ Federation, which is not affiliated to the Labour Party. The D.G.W.U. joins a growing list of union organisations angry with the economic direction of the Labour Government. The list includes the National Union of Railwaymen, which voted against affiliation this month, and the CanterburyWestland branch of the Printers’ Union, which voted against affiliation with any political party. The union covers retail, stores, warehouse and laundry workers in Canterbury including Timaru, Ashburton, and also Greymouth. It also covers retail workers in Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Otago, Southland, and Nelson. The Labour Party’s president, Ms Ruth Dyson, said she had not been told of the decision.

“If the membership voted that way I would be very sad.”