CARPENTERS GET NOTICE

Chronicle (Levin), 18 February 1949, Page 5

CARPENTERS GET NOTICE

■ i i msa - 3r Press AsweiatiouJ

Builders Out For Fight To The Finish

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AUCKXiAJNl), ± eb. 17. Many Auckland bmldihg ctjntractor. at itiidday today served dismissa hotices on their carpenters. Bihiila accion was taken at intervais, thfoUgr out the' afternoon by other's, iif cdii formity with tlie .dhcisioh Of the Mdste. Auilders' ASsoCiatiOit whidh claiiiu ahat its hieinbOi's adVisbd today tha ohey afe glVing it uiiahihidus supporfc. Other wOrkers iii the biiildixig tratit will continuO their erhpioyment 'but 1 may not b6 poSSibie to find work fo. chem fof rhdre than a fdrthight if tli. carpenters stay out. , At this stage a inajor industrial dis pute seems unavoidable, Two thousahc. carpentbrs and joinetg in the Aucklam aietfopOlitaii area wiil be unemployei jomorrow. Building operatibnS, par hcuiarly dn Btate v housds, will be a practicaily a standstill. " Though thv ..lasber Builders/ Association appdale.. ,o the Government for its support il cesisting the demands of th'e union anc. .pholding the law, the Government ha. lot yet intervened. It is reiuctant t_ -tep in through an unofiicial approac^ .vas iiiade to the Minister of Lkboui .Vtr. McLagan. JBoth sides staiid firli. oy their. declarations df' policy whiie lomeseekers and thbse awaiting Statt iouses r.Uxiously await the outcome; Employers are watchihg the tnal oi strength as closely. as the trade uniou organisatiohs. "This is an all-out .ight," declared oue. The Auckland master builders are the "first group oi employers to make an uncompromising xtand against union demands. Th'ere i.a f ealing that capitulatioh would rock the industrial structure of the Do ttiiuion.' Though every means of reachmg a settlement seems to have been exhaust

>y v » i ed, there is still, i!t is- understood, tlupossibility that a tribunal may be su: up under the Strikes and Lockouts Emergeney , Regulationgr Employers ' organisations-are snpporting the mastei builders and the more Aiiiitant sectioim of the trades unioii r movement arialigning themselves- with the carpen ters. "Though the Carpenters' Union was determined to defy the Arbitration Court and press its demands illegally, the builders, with all other employers, were emphatic that the Court 's decision shouid be upheld," said a statement by the Auckland Master Builders' Association today. " Practically every meiiiber of the association and every othe:builder in Auckland and South Auckland, hak advised that they are 100 per cent. behind the association and will implement its decisions to the full." The union had said the employers were creating a lookout. This was not the case. The jobs would remain opeu to all building tradeSmen except members of the Carpenters' Union. Dismissal notices were handed to some Auckland carpenters as early as 10 a.m. today when they received their . pay. Similar action was taken on Other building jobs at intervals throughout the day. Under their awarri the meit are entitled to four nours' notice of dismissal which ineludes twu hours for sharpening and attending to their tools. Carpentry trade trainees under a tvyo years contraet of serviee with the Kehabilitation Departmeilt, are not in volved- in the dispute though they are members of the Carpenters' Unibii, Nor mally after four months of instructibn they go out under an instructor to undertake the building of 'State houses. There are 467 trainees on Auckland, Whangarei and Kaikohe. Of these 240 are ejctension trainees (in their seeond year). They are building . State house's at Tamaki, Bayswater, Birkenhead, Whangarei and Kaikohe. It is not yet knowb how certain sections bf the freezing industry and other manufacturers of perishable goods, wilJ ('arrjr on without their maintenance carpenters if these nieii are dismissed.