Meat companies determined to stand firm on pay

Press, 7 February 1986, Page 2

Meat companies determined to stand firm on pay

PA Wellington Freezing works employers have reaffirmed the limits of their wage offers to both the meat workers and the industry’s tradesmen, and say they are determined to stand firm in the face of threatened strike action.

After a two-day meeting of the Meat Industry Association’s executive, Mr Peter Blomfield, its executive director, said yesterday that the meat Industry, farmers, and the New Zealand economy could not stand the 15.5 per cent increase demanded by the unions. The offer to meat workers was a flat $23 a week and for tradesmen, $25 a week. Both offers were conditional on the employee groups making certain concessions that would give management the ability to improve efficiency and productivity, Mr Blomfield said. Most of the wage settlements this round had had no regard for the ability of an industry to pay.

“We do not intend to be dragged down that path. With the problems we have, it is imperative we

have a much lower settlement than those already achieved,” Mr Blomfield said.

Member companies were "absolutely resolute” on the wage settlement issue.

“To accede to the level of union demands would put companies and farmers out of business and threaten further the economy of the country.”

Mr Blomfield said the unions seemed “hellbent on formulating a suicide pact” for the industry.

The flat-rate $23 increase had been put to meat workers deliberately in preference to a percentage increase because it would not widen the already large gap between high and lower earners, he said. Such an offer was made also on the understanding that the union’s concern was also for the lowerpaid and not the meat workers on $28,000 to $35,000 a year.

The offer was made on the condition that the union would end restrictive practices and allow greater management flexibility.

“Our claims included shift work which would

provide almost immediately 1200 extra jobs in the industry and save the expense of duplicating under-utilised cutting rooms, and the removal of barriers to the introduction of new technology,” Mr Blomfield said. “Our . demands are designed, to assist getting the industry back on its feet, which is surely in the interests — both short and long term — of the employees.” The flat $25 a week to the tradesmen had been made conditional on their acceptance to tidy up some aspects of the agreement, such as the acceptance of condition payments from parent awards, speedy resolution of demarcation disputes, and the ability of companies to employ outside contractors. “These offers have been made to this industry’s employees in the knowledge that both meat workers and tradesmen have for a very long time enjoyed substantial earning margins over people with similar skills.

“The industry can no longer afford the premiums it has been paying,” Mr Blomfield said.