Strike Rumour Not Confirmed

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 74, 28 July 1948, Page 5

Strike Rumour Not Confirmed

NORMAL WORK ON WAIMANA GORGE Allegations that two crawler tractors were lying rusting on the roadside, a carry-all scoop was lying across a partly completed filling and that Maori tractor drivers were said to be out on strike from the Waimana Gorge improvement job were made by Cr R. F. Wardlaw at the meeting of the Whakatane County Council yesterday. The strike rumour is not confirmed. Asked about it straight after the meeting yesterday, Mr H. N. McDonald, Public Works overseer of the job, said whoever started the strike story was guilty of a deliberate mis-statement. He had heard ho suggestion of such a thing amongst the men, who were working normally. Cr Wardlaw asked if the Council could do anything to speed up improving the Waimana Gorge road, which he said was in a shockingcondition'. The County engineer, Mr C. H. Brebner, stated that the job was not in the hands of the Council but under the P.W.D. y",.. The chairman, Mr nJ. JL. Burnett, said that he had spoken with a number of departmental heads of the Public Works Department and had got answers which gave the impression that the Department was handicapped by not being able to keep its machines on the road owing to continued breakdowns, the difficulty of obtaining spare parts, and the difficulty of getting qualified staff. They also said they could not get steady men to work for them either. He instanced cases where gangs of men had been laid off for inconsistent work. But this he -pointed out was not in keeping with the Government policy of full employment, and it was considered by those in charge to be a risky business. Cr Wardlaw, in explaining the situation of the machinery in the Gorge, said he had heard that 'the Maori drivers of the tractors, who were mainly from Waimana, were out on strike because they thought they were not getting such a good deal as the Ruatoki Maoris were in P.W.D: work.

When asked by a Councillor why private contractors could not be given the job, Mr Burnett said that private contractors/ with the Government policy of public works, had had to become part of . the plan so that they could keep their trucks and equipment on the road.