MEAT WORKS EMPLOYEES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10713, 5 September 1912, Page 5

MEAT WORKS EMPLOYEES

QUESTION OV VICTIMISATION

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY

The hands employed at the Waingawa Meat Works (about twenty in number) met yesterday, after reading tho report in the Wairarapa Age of. the meeting held in, Masterton on the previous evening, and authorised the publication of the following reply to Mr tt. Mcßae: —

"Regarding tho report appearing in your columns of tho public meeting, held under the auspices of tho Tatatahi Meat Works Employees' Union, we, the men who are employed by the company, would like to state our side of the case. To begin with, Mr McRae said that one of the reasons that the meeting had been called for was that an official of the Meat Company had given them to understand that nothing could appear in the local newspapers unless it had been perused by, tho company. (We are of the opinion that this statement is a direct insult to"the/Wairarapa' papers, and the fact that they reported on r-fclie 1 meeting proves that there was nothing in the statement.) Mr Mcßao , said that Mr Cooper said the agree- ' iPCUt under which, the men had been ' ..orklug was not worth tho papei' it was written on. As the agreement did not hold good in a Court of, Law (not being a registered) agreement) •.ve wonder why it was not made legal by the experienced Unionists who 'bow it up. It was also stated that cho men were fighting the Employers' Association, and not tho local employers. This question was put to Mr Cooper at a meeting when ho addressed the men, and he gave it an emphatic denial,, saying that t.hc dispute in question had never left tho company. Mr Mcßae said that the original agreement between the men and the company was supposed to be kept secret. So far as tho men were concerned the strictest secrecy was observed. Well; Mr Editor, as copies of the agreement were posted up in about six place at the works, where any one visiting the works could see them, • wo fail to see where the Secrecy comes in. (Perhaps when Mr Mcßae. was employed at the works, ho forgot to bring a telescope, and therefore did not see the agreement' posted up.) Mr Mcßae said that Union men had been put off tho works and non-Union-ists put on in their place. Tf this was so (which the men refute) why did not Mr Mcßao try and get the ■ wrong righted, as ho was one of the Union's Dispute Re the victimisation of tho two men, Bruer and Smith, the majority of the men are quite satisfied that they were told to come to work on the day - in question, although on the evidence as put forward by Mr Mcßae at the works, the men passed a vote saying that the two men had been victimised. The reason the men ~have changed their minds on the case, is because they have since found out that Bruer and Smith had a day's work at the gasworks on the day they were supposed to come to work, and as the work at'tho-' freezing works only meant about two or three hours, they no doubt thought they would leave it to tho next day. Now, as the work at the freezing works was urgent (the goods being perishable) and the men did not come to work when told to, ' we fail to see why the foreman was not justified in dismissing them. Mr Mcßae says that twenty of the men turned around and voted they should not belong to the organisation, because if they did they would get the sack. The real reason was that tho men received information that the company had been cited by the Wellington Union as parties to their award, and seeing the u.selessness of the old Union, they decided to become a branch of the Wellington Union. This they did, and Mr Reardon came up last week and enrolled them as members of the Wellington Freezing Works Employees' Industrial Union of Workers. An agreement was entered into, which is 25 per cent, better than the one Mcßao and Co. dr.ew up. In fact, it will compare more than favourably with any other agreement in New Zealand. As regards being called "scabs" by tho Union' we have just joined, we fancy Rod has been romancing again, because we were called "scabs" beforo we joined them for working for a less rato of pay than they were receiving. Many of the workers had told him (Mcßae) that they were afraid of coming to the meetings. He did not blame them for trying to keep their jobs. The reason the men decided to stop away from tho Union meeting was because they had decided to ignore the Red Flag agitators. Tho report also states that if a man asks for a job he is told he may have a job if he has nothing to do with aUnion. This is all "rot." When a person applies for work, the foreman tells him, if he is not a Unionist, that he can give him work provided he joins the Union. To answer all Mr Mcßae's fanatical statements would require more, space ih your paper than we feel justified in asking for. As this •covers the - report'of "Tuesday's meetr ing, wo will not enter into a newspaper controversy on' the subject. Hoping this explanation will suffice."