N.Z. WATERSIDERS

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1932, Page 6

N.Z. WATERSIDERS

NO UNION LABOUR AT GISBORNE.

(Per Press Association — Copyright:,

GISBORNE, August Iff

" The first indication of difficulty on Lite. Gisbomie waterfront was, given when a call Was made, for a small gang, to handle the lighters, released fyq-m- the /lightering contract ini cqp-. nection/with the liner.Taranaki. Union labour hvas hot offering on the new terms and no further effort will be made to fill the jobs to-day.

’ ’ ' POSITION AT AUCKLAND, j i t - , AUCKLAND, Auguct Iff. . f T|ie' only yassefe on which cargo was worked this morning were, those for which labour lxad:been engaged'before to-day. Consequently there was no occasion to engage men at the first call time to-day. About one hundred men were present ,at the rostrum when a man hurriedly distributed pamphlets, which some of the wntersiders present apparerjtly expected to contain in* stroetiohs to stop. However, it was an appeal, jsigued by the local Communist party calling on the watersiders to adopt the slogan “All out for a. genera] strike,” and attacking Roberts and Glover of the Waters: clers’ Federation. Several of the pamphlets torn up after . the men had jgliineed at them. Cue of the men said, they were, opposing working conditions rather than the new wages rates.

AT.DUNiKDTN. DUNEDIN, August Iff. .. In addition-.rtp;;the Canadian Gonqueror, Kaikorqi and Gale, which were not worked ;• to-day, the John and Fiscus are dub/this atfernoon. The Waikoifaiti wai/ifto have sailed this morning for Bluff hut was held up by a. fog and may now be detained pending a settlement. The , waters,iders are "holding a lengthy meeting. Mr Cbpland, president of the local union, ayerred that if the local employers were not tied an agreement would be possible, but the conditions were dictated by the London; owners.

POSITION AT LYTTELTON

CHRISTCHURCH, August 19,

p Watersiders at Lyttelton -were engaged uhder the employers’- amended proposals, the bld agreement having lapsed. The men made no comment when told of tl)e terms of their engagement and ;alii the labour required was selected from: the ranks of unionists. No attempt was made by the .employers’ representatives' to engage men. outside of the Union.

' The Secretory of the Watrsiders’ Union, wheti no comment tjo “It -is4£|e i 'other*side who -are n-ews” ! he added:

WATERSIDERS’ VIEWS

[ WELLINGTON, August 19

After a lengthy outline of the negotiations with the shipowners, in the dispute, Mr Roberts, .Secretary of the •Water-seders? of. on the- part, of Mr Turrell Superintendent of the New Zealand Shipping Coy.,,'; m?. : declanug the. negotiations broken off, and not stating i'U his letter that lie intended to put the ..employers proposals .into operation this'mbn|ing. 'Roberts, i*aid the basic Wage- fOtijwatersiders in 1929 was 2s 4d •per hoursiiand the average w-ee.kly em, ploymentTwas 33 hours. In 1922, Judge Frazer ;-atated the average; weekly employnioftiiat that time was 35 ; 64 hours and lie fil-ed the basic wage at 2s2.|d. On that "ishsis on the figures the federation had obtained, the average employment to-day was about twenty hours per week. Therefore a wage of Is ill! an hour;would return weekly £1 18s 43.-. In two large ports the- average ' wage for the year ended June 30th was £4 -l,(}s .7d per weak and for the 52 weeks .'foj-jfune 30 ,]as,t it had fallen to £2 ,9s. vWlitereiders c o'T.d not possibly agree to ■any , further wage redaction. 'Roberts skid the ten per cent, cut last year ogaye a present to over soak shipowners %f between £BO,OOO and £90.000. ’ This Uno-ney was taken out ofi Now Zealand hapd. so was lost in purchasing power ||ii;. ;; 'New Zealand and if -the employers •present proposals as were -agreed to, it v would mean another £IOO,OOO- direct purchasing loss to this country. Water? ilphrs -were willing that an impartial tribunal should be set up to -investigate w4ges earned by wate-rsiders prior Icf.i't'ithe; last award and since, ahd to atipw that tribunal to say whether an-, wages cut should be enforced.

. water,siders 'Federation was atfilffted. ciYilh international transport WOp-kers’-’Meideration. That wa-s to say tboy were affiliated with all British workers’ organisations, and tkpy bad no desire to refer the dilute ;fo that 'body, the -dictatorial a’cfftm ‘of representatives of the sliipWould probably compel them to take that course . . v J* *' » ,'if ‘ •'-k? ' t