CARPENTERS DROP A BOMBSHELL

Chronicle (Levin), 20 May 1949, Page 6

CARPENTERS DROP A BOMBSHELL

Press Association )

(Per .

WELLINGTON, May 19. There must have been a u-eai oi j string-puiniig benina scenes at| tne I'edeiaGon oi iiabour oonler-l ence to avert the threatened spnt. But this result v/as gamed touay. It was an uneasy peaee, iiowever, that was created as was prbveu when Ihe dissidents threw a bomDshell right on the point oi adjournment this evenmg. The upshot is that tomorro w there threatens to be another stormy day and there is every probabiiity that the conference will end tomorrow night without having completed the business whieh brought over 200 delegates * to Wellington. At the moment hcnours appear to lie with the dissidents whatever the voting figures may show. The -day opened 011 a note oi passion with a discussion 011 the troubled subject of whether or not the AVaterside Workers' Union should withdraw and apologise for eertain statements their ofhcials had made about the national exeeutive. of the Federation of Labour. Before that really got going, there were hot words 011 the subject of a news story whieh eertain newspapers; had published concerning a report of a eommittee whieh had not yet reported to conference. Nobody was very happy about that and tempers frayed by several days of acrimony, were hardly . held in control as the debate on the watersiders' behaviour opened. Women delegates' were warned that' 'tlie ' language" used by ; the watersiders' offieials -in- their correspondence with the federation, vyere uot .fit 'for ladies'.ears and.

it was suggested they should withdrew. Une woman delegate made some pointed eomments on Ihis but, however, reluetantiy, Uiey diu ieave with one exeeption and soon all were back in the hall. There ' Was IlhLlc friendlihesd about the subsequent exchanges between the watersiders' leaders and the pigfj.'0rm but early in the al'ternoon,- Jfaeecl with jwhat was tlie inevitable outcome V-of thefr st and, the watersiders aimdiuieed that they were prepared to withdraw their letters. Delegates breathed a sigh of relief and turned to consideration of the annual report of the national exeeutive. It was just on 5 p.m., when the conference was about to adjourn, that the carpenters threw their new bombshell. It was prettily timed and splendidly exploded. Mr. F. L. Langley, national president of the New Zealand Carpenters' Union, ^buehcd it off. He asked that standing orders be suspended in order to enable him to 111 ake .a statement. The ehairman,' Mr. Croskery, refused. Mr. Langley, remaining on his feet, mildly ex'plained that "whai he had to say would take only a moment and he was then allowed tp proceed. Ile said that his union had, that morning, placed the carpenters' dispute in the hands of the Federation-, oi Labour ahd the pi'oceedings 111 the Supreme'- -Court case set down for tomorrow were now being withdrawn. His union had the assuranee of Mr. Croskery that the matter could be diseussed and a. deeision made by the- confef ehee regarding the:"deregistraj-

tion of one Unioh ahd registration of another. ;* There were rounds of applause •at ' the announcement 'but' the cheerfulness was dispelled "when it was explained that thi,s action would cancel out the question of prejudice whieh had hithertocurbed the discussion and that the carpenters proposed' to raise tomorrow the question of whether or not the federation proposed to support what was termed a "scab union." The militants . were jubilant, afterwards explaining that the carpenters' leaders had carried out an adroit manoeuvre. What it really . meant was that, whatever the Federation of Labour conference decided, the whole problem had been tossed neatly into the lap of the Minister of Labour, Mr. McLagan. In other w.ords, the Govern.£ge nt, iii ;.dei;:eg;istering th e .' Gar« ig.e^tehs' Uni'Qh,;arid prp.mising, fo registeri- t.the "• newi. • -union, : v mad • created1 a -^Toblem for- itself' and the dissidents' wanted'Utb efttbaiv rass. Mr. McLagan if .po'ssible/' J In the meantime discussion' of the carpenters' case is still Sub judice beeause lea^e to withdraiy has yet to be "given by the Supreme Court tomorrow. But with that formality completed^, the way will be clear ,£or harf . w.ords, on •'a subject on whieh, earlier in the d;ay. Mr. H, Barnes, iiationhl '-pres'ident, of tlie Waterside .Workers' .Union, ha,d quoted the, late Ja,ck London as an authority. So there is every indication that the 1949 Federation of Labour conference will stand in the history of New Zealand trade unionism as reaching new standards in ascerbity and industrial derogation.