Freight parties to meet today

Press, 9 April 1979, Page 6

Freight parties to meet today

Freight-forwarding com-; oanies and the Storemen and Packers’ Union will meet in Auckland today over the Government’s threat to cancel an agreement giving freight-forwarding employees! a 15c an hour industry allowance, intended to cover the handling of dangerous goods. The Government has threatened to cancel the! agreement because it saysp that it breaks the 12-month rule which was agreed to by the Federation of Labour : when free wage bargaining was restored. Under the rule, pay rises must not come at intervals shorter ■than 12 months. Canterbury freight-for-warding workers, who are a party to the agreement for 'an industry allowance and

(Other safety measures, will meet tomorrow to hear the outcome of the talks. Aircraft engineers at Christchurch Airport, who staged a brief strike last 'week, are waiting for the decision of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (Mr T. N. Hunt) whether the department will go ahead with plans to tax travel 'allowances. The decision is (expected on Wednesday. Christchurch drivers of refrigerated trucks will also meet today to decide whether to end their strike over claims for an extra week’s annual leave to compensate for irregular working hours. Conciliation talks will resume on Wednesday. Drivers in other centres went back to work at midnight last night.