Strike at district works hits 2800 jobs

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 1

Strike at district works hits 2800 jobs

Industrial action by shift engineers will close the Belfast and Kaiapoi freezing works today.

About 2800 workers will be without work because of the strike, which began at midnight last night. However, work will be as usual at the Waitaki N.Z. Refrigerating, Ltd, Islington works where other staff can do the jobs normally done by engineers.

The operations mana- ; ger at Islington, Mr Max Williams, said the works ' would carry on without engineers. “Someone else will just have to do their job; why should other people suffer

because of their strike?” he said. The Press Association reports the Meat Industry Association’s executive director, Mr Peter Blomfield, as saying that the 140 engineers nationally had been issued with suspension notices. The engineers, members of the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers, had given meat companies notice that they would turn off the cooling systems to storerooms for newly slaughtered carcases.

Mr Blomfield said the action would force only some works to close.

“Some plants do not have shift engineers because they have automated facilities and they Will work normally. Some plants have other staff who can handle the work of the engineers.”

Mr Blomfield said he could not specify which freezing works would have to cease killing. The engineers’ action follows on from the breakdown of award talks last Wednesday.