Commission's Decision In Wharf Dispute

Chronicle (Levin), 1 November 1949, Page 8

Commission's Decision In Wharf Dispute

WELLINGTON, Oct. 31. The hiring of uojiruiiioii labour to replace unioii xuembers not 'availabia for overtiiue work .011 the waterfroat 'will- be carried on! as in the past. This was stated today in a decision of the Waterfront Industry Commission on the dispute regarding the interpretati'on of the commission's order as it 1 applied to the engagement of nonlunion labour. , In the recent Wellington dispute the union alleged there hacf been a breach of. 'the rule stipulating that labour must be engaged betweeri th-e hours 'of 7.50 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Auckland watersiders have refused to work overtime for some days unless they have been requested to do so oefore 10 a.m., and the commission 's de cision will also apply to that port. The decision stated that, after hear ing the submissions from both tne union and the employers, the commission decided that lion-union gang> should only be engaged after all union labour is absorbed and ai the piace 6engagement provuled thal, in an en: ergency, the pOrt commitlee may ai range for the. hiring of non-union ta bour outside the hours of call ann away from the place or engagemeiu. Seamen may also be engaged withm the hours of call tor work on then own ships. Regai'ding replacements for men noi worldng overtime, the commission de cided that these must be eifecterl ( 1 ) b. the transfer of union labour from' jol>.whicli have linished dui'ing that da.and {-.) oy hiring ur 'non-uniou laaoui in tlie- niannei customar\ m the pa.-, vvheu it had been ascertained that no union laboui was available. The commission will consider whethet all non-union labuur should be engaget. by the labour engagement bureau. Thi decision aiso states that the meinber ship of the port must be brought upsti> a maximum agreed limitation (ixed b} the port committee, which will decide u any increase in limitation is required. The order ineans that the. employers have lost the right to hire complete gangs of non-union labour for a (i p.m. stait on a ship that has been a fuli gang short. Auckland Deadlock. An earlier message from Auckland stated that action by the Waterfront Commission in Wellington was now iwaited by the shippmg companies iii Auckland to end the port deadlock. The Watersiders ''Union at a stopwork meetmg yesterday morning endorsed the recommendation from the executive that they maintain their insistence on the replacement of labour for evening overtime being engaged between 8 a.m. ana 10 a.m". The shipping companies on .the ither hand are not departing from their practiee of making^a call in the Tate afternoon. , The meeting, whieh lasted just over an hour, is understood to have aecepted another recomniendation f'vom the executive that, . gangs/ agree to work shorthanded if hecessary provided the men reeeive paymenf'on the basis of a complete gang. Non-union labour hafl been drort of work sihce the dispute started. Many men had taken u'p other work until the dispute ends. Non-unionists ap ■ pear each morning at the Central Whart for engagements, but only one or two return to waiti, for the late afternoon call. They appear to have taken the hint from the union that their atten- • lance then is 'not appreciated. The compani'es have 'been- engaging labour from^oijtside sources. This hap pened on Fridhy night, but the nnion men refused to work with them. It is understood non-union labour is again to be engaged this afternoon to test tnc position. DECISION ACCEPTED. A Press Association message from Wellington last night stated that the Wellington Watersiae Workers' Union at a special stopwork meeting yesterday accepted the commission's 'decision and endorsed it subject to ratification by next month's bi-annual conference of the National Council of the Union.