Roger Sowry

National Industrial Relations Spokesperson

17 March 2004

Union guilty of political games

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is guilty of playing
political games with workers, says National's Industrial Relations
spokesperson Roger Sowry.

"It is ridiculous of the EPMU to accuse employers of political
game-playing when the union has taken out advertisements in newspapers
telling only half the story.

"The union neglected to mention they are also seeking pushing for a 37½
hour week, or a day off every month, and a five percent pay rise far in
excess of the CPI increase of 1.6% for last year."

Stopwork meetings for 2500 metals workers begin today after negotiations
broke down.

"All the noise Andrew Little of the EPMU has made about the agreement over
the last month or so has been about drawing attention to a large
multi-employer collective agreement and sending a signal to employers
about what to expect in the future.

"Attacking employers is not a constructive way of advancing the agreement.
Employers have every right to refuse something they can't afford.

"Mr Little has been the one publicising and politicising the dispute - not
employers," said Mr Sowry.

Ends

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