Wharf Employers Express Concern

Chronicle (Levin), 1 November 1949, Page 5

Wharf Employers Express Concern

Press AssociaMonJ

(Per

WELLINGTON, Oct. 30 "Recent decisions of oflicers employed by the Y'aterfront Industry Commission are causing employers grave concern," said Captain Holm, general secretary of the New Zealand Waterside Employer's Association today. " Correction of prevalent abuses such as spelling and absenteeism and the re- 1 institution of some measure of diseipline on the waterfrbnt are matters of vital importanee and, to this end, employers have recently issued certain instructions which were fundamentaJly based on the principle that if an employee did not obey fair anr proper orders or, if he left his job during | working hours without permission, he j would be dismissed. It was naturally to be expeeted that the Commission would | support this principle, partieularly as the Waterfront Authority had ruled that it was the employers' responsibility to see that men were on the job for the time for which they "were being paid. It is regretted that on several i-e-cent occasions oflicers of the Commission have given decisions which are very difficult to understand and which can have no other result than to nullify the etforts of employers to restore discipline. A further case of appeasement in the face of direct action by the union is the decision of the Comraision regardi'ng the engagement of nonunion labour. "Tlie action of tbe union was openly stated by union lea.ders to be in refcaliation s^ainst the employers' efforts to correct the evil of spelling and absenteeism. Engagement of non-unionists is made onlv when everv unionist is working or has been offered work so that whether non-unionists are engaged betoie It) a. 111. or after 10 a.m. has no efi'ect whatsoever on unionists. However, the Commission has seen fit to issue a eomproinise rule the only effect of which will be to place a further restrietiou on the turn round of shipping. " (iaptain Holm added that dissatisfaetion with the decisions of the Commission had been felt for a considerable time.