Industrial update – October 17, 2005

October 10, 2005

Industrial update – October 17, 2005

1. Talks are under way in Whangarei with representatives of the new majority shareholder in Carter Holt Harvey, the Rank Group, over the pay dispute at the CHH lumber veneer plant at Marsden Pt. An update will be issued when the union is in a position to comment.

2. More than 400 Transfield employees continue their industrial action this week, with a strike in Hamilton today and a ban on overtime and call-outs in many parts of the country. See earlier releases.

3. Latest CPI figures show that the wages campaign is not driving up inflation. See separate release.

4. The dispute which has seen workers at five Fairfax-owned community newspapers in Wellington continues this week. See earlier releases.

5. Workers at the APN-owned Bay of Plenty Times are on a work-to-rule in protest over the failure to settle their collective agreement. They have been offered a three per cent pay rise plus a $200 lump-sum payment. Their claims include a five per cent rise. Industrial disputes continue at other APN-owned sites, including Hawke’s Bay Today, the Wanganui Chronicle, the Wairarapa Times-Age and the Webprint commercial site in Auckland. Workers at the APN community newspapers in Wellington are meeting today to discuss their situation. They have already taken strike action.

6. The process to ratify the coal miners’ national employment agreement is progressing, with workers at mines around the country voting on whether to accept the settlement. See earlier releases.

Andrew Little
National Secretary
Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union

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