AUCKLAND WATERFRONT IS IDLE ALL DAY

Chronicle (Levin), 11 April 1947, Page 8

AUCKLAND WATERFRONT IS IDLE ALL DAY

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/AUClvLAjMD, April 10'. At the end b.f a six-,hoi|r ai^npal s.top work meeting, the Auckland ,branc.h qi the Waterside Workers' Union inform-' cd the Waterfront Industry Oonnhission's office this afternQon that ' its members would ii.ot -return to ' worlc autil ;8 o'clock tomorfoW.-morhingL'The vidvice was received about 3 ,-p,m.- and . came as a surprise to the shipping companies which -had. been ready *tor some hours to make a start - on •the . .day '& work: The entire waterfrpnt -.was ldie all day. ' . ■ i v . The union meeting began ' at 8 a.m. and after an adjQumment for luncheon, •it continued from 1 p.m.. until sliortly before .3 p.m. As the .annual meeting of Auckland Harbour Bbard's -Employees' Union was held tpiiight • it meagt. that .no crane-drivers woitld be available between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., the watersiders decided not- do Work -the two hours remaining before the 5 p.m. end of daytime work. These two ho.nr?, it yvus considered, would he largely spent in retapving and replacing ha.tch beams. v - The loss of 11 hours wrork was equivalent to the basic union -p'ayment of more than £2. While the loss of a full day 's 'work was deplored, the shipping eompanies were chiefly "concerned with the lack.osf uotice given by the union Qf the lengtli of the meeting. Ilepresentatiyes statedthey had t'ried to lindsout on Wedriesdajythe approbdmate time it would end' and althaugh nothing dehnite "could he obtained, they anticipated that only the morning w-ould be lost and that work would begin at the 1 p.m. after noon starting time. Eakes of refrigerated wagons .loaded with produce for Britain wrnited alongside the three food ships Rimutaka, Durham and Saxon St-ar, from the -beginning of the morning. Failing definite information, the eompanies wanted to make certain that eargoes were available whenever work started. Threatening skies added to ■the worries of,'- the eompanies which feared that rain might further endanger the produce. Bananas from the Islands "in the Matua and West Coast coal in the Karepo, were other important eargoes which were not handled today. Nq one eould predict how long the meeting, particuiarly an annual one, would take, stated a union official. He stated thdt only routine business was carried out. The Federal line steamer Norfchumberland lay idle all day with a large consignment of .-British mail. The. North uhiberland arrived on Wednesday night from Liverpool and berthed. Postal truc-ks" were sent to her berth to receive the mail at. the end of the stopwork meeting of the waterside workers, and they will iiow remain there until work resum.es tomorrow piorning. Canadian and United States mail carried by the Union Company's motorship Wairata is. still awaited by postal officials. The Wairata arrived from San FranciscQ on Wednesday afternoon. '