The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1939. THE WATERFRONT HOLD-UP

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 151, 22 March 1939, Page 10

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1939. THE WATERFRONT HOLD-UP

As the result of the stopwork meeting addressed by the Minister of Labour (Mr. Webb), the Minister of Marine (Mr. Fraser), and others, work on the Wellington waterfront has been resumed. In the meantime the community in general has had to pay in inconvenience and loss through the delays and disorganization resulting from the dispute, and reasonably is entitled to have, all the facts placed before it So far as the general statements published today carry the matter, it would appear that the trouble, arose over resentment at the delay in making a new award, due in July last. For this the employers were blamed, but on the evidence of Mr. Bennett the fault lies elsewhere. The public is left with- the impression that a good deal more could be said about the matter than. has. been allowed to appear. It will hardly be convinced that the inability of the employers and workers’ executives to make contact for finalizing the new award was sufficient justification for disorganizing the work of the port andl piling up losses for all concerned. It was a domestic matter. Why penalize the community and embarrass the general economy, of the country? It is difficult in the circumstances to avoid the suspicion that there is some undercurrent of union policy at work. However that may be, the Government has a very clear responsibility to the country, and must be prepared to act with firmness and decision in the public interest. According to the official report the Ministers present “pointed out plainly the steps the Government would be compelled to take if the nation’s economic life continued to be threatened by go-slow and other detrimental tactics. The public, no doubt, would be quite as much interested as the waterside workers to know what exactly the Government has in mind for such an eventuality.