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Welsh to resolve strike

Rob Cole
Monday 23 December 1996 00:02 GMT
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The referees' strike in Wales is all set to be resolved tonight when the members of the Welsh Society of Rugby Union Referees will be urged to accept the latest pay deal from the Welsh Rugby Union.

Only nine games were able to be staged in Wales at the weekend, five of them postponed Swalec Cup matches, as a result of the officials withdrawing their services on Friday.

An emergency meeting of the WRU's general committee on the same night resolved to give the referees what they had originally asked for and the matter is set to be concluded this week.

"This is a strike which should never have happened. Two weeks ago the Union's general committee rejected our claim, yet on Friday it accepted it," Hugh Banfield, secretary of the WSRUR, said.

"The WRU seemed to think a few militants were behind the strike, but they discovered what were the real feelings of the rank and file. I think the dispute will be called off on Monday, but that won't be the end of the matter.

"We are very unhappy at the way it has been handled and we don't want it to happen again."

A WRU member, Terry Vaux, said: "It will be a great tragedy if the referees don't vote to end their strike on Monday. We have conceded all their points and we are hoping for a quick settlement."

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