Bosses fret over union action

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Manufacturers are holding their breath during stopwork meetings aimed at gauging support for widespread industrial action over stalled talks in key multi-employer bargaining.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has begun balloting employees of 43 "original party" firms in a bid to renew the metals collective agreement, and warns of industrial disruption unless employers increase a 2.5 per cent wage rise offer.

It says the dispute affects not only the more than 2000 workers and 200 firms normally covered by the document, but thousands of others whose pay and conditions flow from it.

Union officials are, therefore, preparing to lodge 14 days' notice this week of mass stopwork meetings to which they will call manufacturing sector workers regardless of whether they are covered by existing agreements.

Employers are reluctant to comment on the dispute before the initial round of workplace meetings, which began yesterday and will continue site by site throughout this week.

But one said anonymously yesterday that tough challenges facing exporters because of the high NZ dollar meant they could not afford to give in to the union's demands.

He said a 3 per cent settlement was reached without fuss last year, but times had changed.

The union had first sought a 5 per cent increase, but had dropped it to 3.5 per cent because of the impact of the stronger exchange rate on businesses.

It argues that the consumers price index does not give enough weight to basic costs hitting workers' and has staff preparing posters proclaiming "Settle the Metals" and "You've Got to Laugh at Two and A Half".