Waterfront May Try Nomination System

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 653, 3 May 1929, Page 9

Waterfront May Try Nomination System

WELLINGTON TRIAL AUCKLAND DELAYS ACTION Although it has been announced from Wellington that the nomination call system of waterside labour will be put into force in Auckland, Wellington, Port Chalmers and Dunedin, the scheme actually is being tried out in Wellington only for three months. If it is a success there* it will be tried in Auckland from August 1. The system is already in vogue in Wanganui, Lyttelton, and. Dunedin, and has worked successfully at the lastnamed port, but not in the other two, disputes over waiting time being frequent.

The watersiders regard the idea with favour, as it is thought that there will be a more even distribution of work and steadier earnings for the workers. The shipping men, however, want to be assured of its success before they try it out in Auckland. Success in Wellington does not necessarily mean that the system will be adopted in Auckland. It will be given a trial. ELIMINATING WAITS

Under the present order of things there is a morning and an afternoon call for wharf labour, men seeking work between 7.45 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 2.45 p.m. This means that men not engaged at the morning call have to wait about the wharves until the afternoon call, in the hope of getting u job. The nomination system means the abolition of the afternoon call, the hours of the morning call being extended to 10.45 a.m., and men desired for working ships which may arrive in the afternoon are nominated at the morning call, being notified to stand by at the places of engagement between 1.30 and 3 p.m. The nomination call does not apply on Saturdays, when the hours of engagement are from 7.45 to 10.30 a.m. From Monday to Friday inclusive men required to start work at 1.30 or later on ships, which have not arrived alongside the wharf, may be nominated at any time from 9 a.m. to the end of the call. The actual time between 1.30 and 3 p.m. at which the men are supposed to be in readiness for work is named by the foreman, and the nomination must be either confirmed or cancelled within 15 minutes of the time stated. If the nomination is confirmed or work begun, the men shall bo paid a minimum of two ordinary hours if they start before 5 p.m., or three overtime hours if they start at 6 p.m. or later. DEFINITE ENGAGEMENT Should a ship fail to arrive or work not be started, no payment shall be made, the employer having the power either to cancel the nomination or order the men back for a later time that day, but not earlier than two hours from the time for which they were nominated. Ordering the men back constitutes a definite engagement, and men attending the second time receive the minimum payment provided. Nominated men, in the event of the cancellation of a call, shall, if available, have preference of employment for the ship or job when labour is required, subject to the provisions of the transfer clause. Commenting on the Wellington innovation, a leading shipping man of Auckland said that it was the outcome of series of sittings of the Conciliation Council at various ports to consider conditions if work in respect of the Dominion award for watersiders. The council had sat in Auckland, Gisborne, Christchurch, Dunedin, Greymouth and Westport, and had been in Wellington since March 27, to finalise to the mutual satisfaction of employers and employees, the conditions of work. The nomination system had met with marked success at Dunedin, but not at Wanganui or Lyttelton. However, at the suggestion of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, it had been agreed to give the scheme a three months’ trial at Wellington, as from May 1. If the scheme proved successful, it was intended to institute a nomination call at Auckland for three months’ trial as from August 1. In the meantime, as the present award had not expired, the present working conditions would be observed until the new award was fixed by the Arbitration Court. There is no indication at present at to when the Conciliation Council proceedings will finish.