EPMU vote result awaited

Unionists campaigning for a 5 per cent pay rise say they counted more than 1000 workers at a stopwork meeting in Auckland yesterday, but results of a secret ballot have yet to be issued.

The workers voted on whether to accept or reject a 3.2 per cent pay offer to the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union from 220 metals industry employers, but the union is waiting for meetings to be held elsewhere before releasing ballot results.

Union secretary Andrew Little said the "Fair Share 5 in '05" campaign won an enthusiastic response from the Alexandra Park meeting and he had heard little opposition from employers.

An owner of a small Auckland engineering workshop said he was struggling to remain viable and resented union suggestions that employers such as he were "coining it".

But Mr Little said employers he had met seemed resigned to the union's campaign, and some in the Manawatu had been quoted saying they had given non-union workers rises of 10 per cent or more to address skills shortages.

Mr Little said the campaign was for non-unionists to support as well, as the economy was growing faster than wages and there was a need for working people of all persuasions to catch up.