Carpenters Strike

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 183, 20 August 1937, Page 5

Carpenters Strike

-Preas 'Assoeiation.l"

STATE HOUSES AT ORAKEI Men Claim More Than The Award Rate CLASH WITH M.P.

(By Teleeraph-

A 1 J I I irAlM JJj imS Olaiming 2/8 an liour as compwed with the award rate of 2/6$d, over 3180 carpenters aud carpenters1 lahourern employed on the ex*ection of State hou»es at Orakei decided after a stopwqrk meeting this morning not to resume vvork until Monday and not to regumq in axxy case unless the employera, th» Fletcher Construction Co., grantoi as increase. Subsequently Mr J, G. K«nnesrly, seeretary of the Carpe»tw•»,' Union, said it was not a union strika but purely a job strike, but that naturally the union would do all posBible in the interests oi the men. An official of the employing firm toid that when the q.uestion was raised earlier in the week the company auggested tliat it 3hould be referred to ths Builders' Association', since it affected all builders and was not a questio®. for any industrial company. Had this beea done, he said, the whole problcm could have been discussed whUe work proceeded. The stop-wprk meeting lasted about an hour. Mr W. J. Lyon, M.P., who wa* pre~ sent by, request representing the Minister of Labour, protested against being called on after the men had decided to cease work axid accused the men of ftttempting to secure a privilego for 'one job at the expeuse of xxnionists on other jobs. They were thus embarrassing the Government, he said. When the men later passed a vot© of confidence in the Goverxxmeut, Mr Lyons expressed the opinion that it was merely a gestiire. Mr Kennerley ' aaid that the delegatcs had met earlier and asked th* Fletcher Construction Co. to gjive them an answer to their demand , for jucreased pay, but. the repreeentative of the company was not prepared to give them an answer this morning, so that .afifcer the stop-work meoting they walked off the job. At the stop-work meeting it was alleged that in Wellington the Fletcher Construction Co. • was paying one penny an hour more than the dqxql nion award rate, . After Mr. Lyon had accused th* men of violating trades-union pri»ciples, one of the workmen threatened to "ram Mr, Lyon's word* down his throat," Mr. Lyqu retorted that he could do so if he were physically capaMe. The mem;ber intimated to the men that he had the courage to stand np to anything that was coming to. fcfcn, Inquirxes made axndng carpentera elicited the fact that 2/6jd is the minimum award rate but that eome contractors are paying as nxuoh as 2/9 an hour. A further cause for complqint, . they say, is the length of time the Arbitration Court hearing has been delayed, and the men are incensed that a change of venus to Auckland cannot be obtained, In their new claims the men are asking £6 a week, maiutaiuing that the builders can put their work on the game footing as other trades aud make work continuous.