April 13, 2005

Metals workers reject 4% offer

Stop-work meeting tomorrow to hold strike vote

Metals workers have rejected an offer of a four per cent pay rise, saying it is not enough to settle their seven-week-old dispute.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary Andrew Little said that around 75 per cent of workers covered by the key Metals and Manufacturing Industries Collective Agreement had voted to reject the offer.

Workers will hold a stop-work meeting at Ericcson Stadium in Auckland at 1pm tomorrow, at which they will vote on whether to strike on Friday.

Talks to renew the Metals – the country’s largest and most influential private-sector industrial document – broke down on February 25 with employers making a final offer of a 3.2 per cent pay rise.

They agreed to return to the negotiating table after workers threatened to strike on March 18, and during talks last Thursday upped their offer to four per cent.

Mr Little said that the offer had been taken back to members around the country, and been roundly rejected.

“It’s not acceptable,” he said. “Workers want five per cent, which they believe is fair in this climate.”

ENDS

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