Work Resumed In Waimea

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31111, 14 July 1966, Page 16

Work Resumed In Waimea

Unloading of cargo from the No. 1 hold of the Waimea should finish today, the Union Steam Ship Company’s wharf superintendent at Lyttelton (Captain C. C. Gass) said last evening.

Work in the hold resumed yesterday morning after a hold-up since Monday afternoon caused by chemical fumes in the ’tween-decks compartment. Six men wearing breathing apparatus worked until noon when they stopped for the funeral of a watersider.

An increased hourly wagerate for the men wearing the apparatus was decided on yesterday after a meeting between the walking delegate

of the Lyttelton Waterfront Workers’ Union (Mr J. Hughes), the chairman of the Port Conciliation Committee (Mr R. H. Duff) and Captain Gass, at the ship. The concentration of fumes had been considerably reduced through pumping up the spilt chemical and feeding in compressed air on Tuesday, Captain Gass said. A different type of breathing apparatus was tested in the hold yesterday morning and six sets are expected to arrive by air from Auckland this morning. Health departments will use instruments which were flown from Auckland yesterday to establish the nature of the fumes when work begins at 7 a.m. today.