650 MEN NOW INVOLVED

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 149, 20 March 1939, Page 10

650 MEN NOW INVOLVED

Wellington Waterfront Dispute

MORE DISMISSALS ON SATURDAY Farmers Help To Load Chilled Beef More dismissals on Saturday brought the total number of men involved in the waterfront trouble at Wellington to 650. At 8 a.m. on Saturday the Waterside Labour Bureau put out discs for three gangs for the Maunganui, two gangs each for the Piako and the Doric Star, and three gangs for the Rangitata. Only about 240 men were available, and when the requirements of the three interisland steamers were filled, about 160 men were left to man the overseas ships. On the ground that the work was not being performed at the proper rate, one gang on the Doric Star was discharged at 9.20 a.m. Ten minutes later the remaining men were also dismissed. Both gangs on the Piako were discharged at 9.35 a.m. end at 9.55 similar action was taken with the gangs on the Rangitata. The men working the Maunganui were dismissed at 10.30 a.m., and permanent hands employed by the harbour board were engaged on the wharf handling discharged cargo.

Non-union men began to accept engagement at 8 o’clock, but, it is understood, were dissuaded by union representatives and all walked away from the engagement stands. Subsequently the bureau was unable to engage any non-union labour, and when the period for engaging labour ended at 10 a.m. no progress had been made. The loading of the 1200 quarters of chilled beef into the Doric Star was completed by 7.30 p.m. with the assistance of clerks and farmers. Twenty farmers came from Masterton to assist with the work. No attempt was made to load other cargo. It is understood that 900 quarters, which completed Thomas Borthwick aud Sons’ shipment of chilled beef were loaded, the men finishing work about 8 p.m. Several trucks of frozen meat had to be returned to Masterton because the storage space available in Wellington was insufficient. There are still about 10,000 frozen carcases, 1200 boxes of butter, 1100 crates of cheese, some thousands of boxes of fruit, and about 4500 bales of wool to loaded into the Doric Star. The Doric Star was to have sailed on Saturday for Port Chalmers to continue loading, but she will not' now get away till Tuesday night, even if work is resumed normally today. She was to have loaded fruit at Port Chalmers, and the delay has increased the shortage of storage space there. It is believed that arrangements have been made to load some of the fruit into another ship.

A number of ships, apart from the overseas vessels and interisland steamers, required labour on Saturday, but could not be manned. The Waipahi and the Maunganui sailed on Saturday afternoon, both without completing loading. The Maunganui also had on board cargo which had not been discharged. Mr. J. O. Johnson, secretary of the Wellington Watersiders’ Union, denied the suggestion that the underlying cause of the trouble was resentment at the remarks of the Minister of Labour at the conference of waterside workers and employers. He would not make any further comment on the position. Further discussions with the Minister of Labour and union officials will be held today by the employers, it is understood, in an attempt to settle the trouble. CONGESTED PORT Ships Will Total More Than 40 Today TWELVE OVERSEAS LINERS Even if normal working conditions prevail on the Wellington waterfront today the port will'he hopelessly congested and not' nearly till the vessels in port will be able to obtain labour. There were in port yesterday-six big overseas liners and a large number of coastal vessels, in addition, to two tankers.“ This morning, six more big ships are due, making 12 liners and a total of more than -10 vessels all told. If the 1130 men on the register of the Waterside Employers’ Bureau, together with the several hundred non-unionists who frequent the waterfront, were all available there would still be a big shortage o.f labour, but as it is only a proportion of these men will be available this morning. Under the rules of the bureau system, men who have been discharged have to stand down for two succeeding days. On Friday and Saturday some 650 men, or half the'number available, were discharged, and so are not, under the rules of the bureau, available for work today. In the event of the holdup continuing, there will be very serious delay because of the rapid accumulation of shipping at this, the peak of the export season, which will lead to congestion over an extended period.