BIAS DENIED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1969, 28 January 1914, Page 8

BIAS DENIED.

TROUBLE OVER WHARF WORK MR. FLETCHER'S REPLY. BOARD QUITE BLAMELESS Reply was mndo by Mr. R. ,Fletcher, chairman'of tho Harbour Hoard, in an i interview with a reporter'yesterday, to certain statements of a member or the executive- of itlie. now Waterside-re' Union published in> The Douiniox yes- •''•• tcrday morning. •Mr. Fletcher, answering tho allcga- ■ tion that tho figures which. ho had quoted at tho.meeting.of tho board were not correct,- said that they were from , a return compiled by ollice-'rs of tho ■•' board. He himself had had nothing to do with their preparation. He had merely asked for tho return, and ho had never seen it nor the officers who had prepared;it .until it was put in his hands oii tho night of tho meeting. He could state, however, that tho officials of tho ;.. board,had made repeated application to i 'tiro, new union to bo supplied with a list of men entitled to-preference, in accordance- with tho board's resolution, but tho list had not been supplied. This being so, tho-officers employing labour could only.supposo that men who were new to tho wharves were members of tho new union, who ■were, entitled to preference. .'They accordingly, classified theSQ. .strangers; as ", "licjy.,. men,-",: as,' . against t tho olcl watersiders, whom they knew..--In.-tho circumstances, this was "\ all they" coiild fdo. If tho. secretary of , the new union had supplied tho informa- ■ tio'n for which ho had been asked, no doubt somo of the strangers would not have been employed.. No doubt also it was "true that some of thoso men had joined tho union • after December :8, but, as things were, the labour foremen • tould not do rnovo than they were doing . bow. •■ • ' * Board's Foremen Defended. -. Referring to an expression made use of by the member ol tho waterside executive ('.'There are wheels within wheels") Mr; "'ifletehersaid :•'■'! don't really know what lie'm'cans by'that. If ho will come forward and ■ say specifically what he does mean,* and tells us what he wants, I will see that inquiries are made. Let him state something definite. It is very easy to mako these general insinuations with .nothing to support them. As a matter' of- fact," continued Mr. Flet-. cher, 'VlwouUl not havo taken any notice', of : 'the-Statements," but for the ro-. flections ' which'' they cast upon the board's officers. What I take most exception to is the- charge , that the Harbour. Board officials have been guilty of tantalising and victimising the now men.' It is!nothing-'short of malicious for any. mail to niakosiich a statement about valued officers of the board, f have known the two , labour foremen Wr very many years. Mr. ; Glennie has been in the board's'.service for 32 years, and Mr. Probyn for 23 years, and they nro two of our most, trusted officers;. I regret very much'-that-these' statements have been given publicity, and the authors of them,should apologise. Tho truth is,' of course, that there- has been no attempt at victimisation. The foremen have been only too anxious fo assist; in carrying out the board's work, and have obeyed tho board's instructions to tho lett-er. ' I movo.about amoiig tho men a good deal, and I know as a fact that tho 'board's.officers'are very ready ■to assist inexperienced men ut their work. Good Jobs and Poor Ones—The Element [ ~ , of Luck. 'ARegarding- tho complaint that some of , the new men have not had so much work; to'some'of tho old hands,it must bo -remembered that work on tho wharves is intermittent. Tho labour foreman books men for work on a ship for'which ho has instructions. The work may bo a small job or a big job, but ho has to supply; tho labour at once. Later in the day instructions may come to him for another vessel,'which may givo the men longer employment. But, if ho is "to carry out the resolution of ■ tho'board, ho must give preference for tho h'rst job offering to tho preference men, and then it may happen that, when the bigger job comes along, most of the men offering are old watersidcrs. This irregular employment is always a condition of wharf work. It was a source of complaint before the strike took .place. Metf who had , not been long in tho board's service sometimes had the luck to get a run of steady work, while .older lia-nds had a lot of idle time- on their hands. Who Shipping Companies Employ. "The statement you havo published from tho representative of tho New Zealand Shipping Company backs up what I stated. Tho figures ho quotes are- all against himself. What ho says about badges is So thin, that -it won't wash. Any man , 'handling labour on the wharf knows all the old men thoronghly, and by this time 'the foremen know practically all the new men. The fact is that tho companies are taking tho best- men to carry out'their work at the lowest cost. They are, therefore, taking tho olcl hands, and leaving it to the board to employ the new and inex-]X!i-ieuccd men, with tho usual result tliat tho.public institution has to pay inoro than-.11ie.-.privato. individual -to have work.;do)ie;, '■' It is "common talk nlong tho waterside that the Harbour ■ Board is bearing more than its quota of tho men who aro not competent. I admit that thoro aro ' some splendid workers among tho now hands, but thoru aro others who never will be any good. How;the.Board..Suffers. .. ~' "It is np-'iiglit matter- for tlyy.board to have to-, rely on unsatisfactory men. The board handles goods from'tlie ships' slings, or. loads them from the 'sheds to ships. If a* careless man does not follow instructions, and takes goods to the wrong ship, the board may be mulcted inalarming damages. Wehave had a lot 'of trouble about stuff that wo have lost the tuh of .since tho strike, and the trouble ..will take, a- lot of unrsivolling. There has been' some stupid talk by people who 'blamed tho board for all tho trouble' said to exist along tho waterfront. When theso people talk about work at tho wharves they mean all branches of work, but it i 3 not all controlled by the board. Ovor what goes. ou,. in., ships' holds or. on. ships' decks the board hag no jurisdic- ' tion. Andit is on the ships that most of tho trouble has occurred. On tho wharves the- new and the old hands havo worked together for a long time without friction.' At tho outsot instructions were given to tho officers of the board "that "men causing trouble were to bo'dismissed, ■ an 3 a few men. were dismissed, with.'tho result that now there ; is. nevor tho slightest trouble on tho wharves."

"I should just liko. to add 'that, as far as I,tun. concerned,,l am doing tho fnir tiling by both parties in this dispute. Tarn not prejudiced in favour of either the one or the other. I have not shown any bias light through the piece."