Christchurch cold-truck drivers out

Press, 18 April 1979, Page 3

Christchurch cold-truck drivers out

About 19 refrigeratedtruck drivers emploved in Christchurch by Refrigerated Freight Lines, a subsidiary! of General Foods Corporat-I ion, went on strike yester-l day. The strike will halt the transport of ice-cream and cultured foods to and from Christchurch, but is not ex-1 peeled to have any immedi-, ate effect on supplies be-: cause warehouses and retail-! ers have re-stocked since re-' frigerated-truck drivers struck for a month before Easter, returning to work on April 9. This time the R.F.L? drivers in Christchurch are

out on their own. They have not been joined by drivers employed by Modern Freighters, Ltd, nor by drivers of Hilton Haulage Timaru. Nor have drivers employed by R.F.L, in other centres resumed the strike, which is oyer a claim for an extra week’s leave a year. The secretary of the Canterbury Drivers’ Union (Mr P. R. Liggett) said the Hilton drivers had not meth because the union organiser was not available at present, and the Modern Freighters drivers had not struck because the company had given a verbal agreement that it would give the drivers an extra week’sp leave on completion of two: years of service.

However, the manager of Modern Freighters at its

-I head office in Levin (Mr K. ijS. Sutherland) yesterday deli nied any agreement. He said! I the company had told its: - drivers they already met the! -I criteria the employers had! i offered in talks with the! • Drivers’ Federation last! I week. Other points which: ) were still outstanding didi ■I not affect Modern Freighters - drivers, said Mr Sutherland. The employers’ advocate •| (Mr J. Beattie) said that the - offer by the employers was j for one day for every 25 : nights away" from home. All 1 or nearly all the drivers employed by Modern Freighters ‘ qualified under that crites rion.

Mr Beattie said the Drivers’ Federation had claimed an extra week on the ground of unusual or inconvenient hours, or alternatively. an extra week’s annual leave after two years service. The employers had agreed to neither proposition, partly because it was not known what was meant by unusual and inconvenient hours, and partly because of the probable flow-on effect I through industry. The employers had offered the extra day’s leave for every 25 nights away from home because they believed that was a fair wav to compensate the drivers, and it was similar to what tour-bus drivers were getting. Mr Beattie said that talk's (scheduled for next week .might be jeopardised by the 'strike in Christchurch.