MOUNTING LOSSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 November 1938, Page 7

MOUNTING LOSSES

ACUTE POSITION IN TRADE AND INDUSTRY. HEAVY COSTS OF IDLE SHIPS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, November 11. A sum approaching £ls,ooo.has probably been lost in wages by the waterside workers of Auckland as a result of the waterfront dispute. The workers themselves do not seem greatly concerned about the position, as individuals among them hold that when a settlement is reached the cargoes of the ships in port will still have to be worked, involving fairly extensive payments, at overtime rates. It is stated on good authority that the average wages bill for waterside workers during normal periods of port activity runs to about £lO,OOO a week, and the estimate of £15.000 lost in wages is based on the fact that the present hold-up has now extended for about a week and a half. . If the view of individual watersiders is correct and their wages have not been lost but only deferred, no such avenue of escape exists in the case of shipping companies or for various trade interests which are innocent third parties in the dispute. Their losses are accumulating daily, and in most instances they cannot be recouped. All ships which are lying idle alongside the city’s wharves are fully manned and wages have still to be paid to crew's. In addition, while the ships are not working, they are not earning and the payment of harbour dues represents a further dead loss. Foi some of the larger vessels the dispute is costing shipowners at least £6OO a day for each of the ships concerned. Losses in the ordinary commercial sphere are even more difficult to estimate. The late delivery of imported goods or inability to ship local goods to other ports all means a steady inroad on legitimate trading profits, as well as untold inconvenience. Numerous individual traders and business concerns are involved and the losses will be as heavy as they are widespread. The effect of the hold-up on local manufacturing industries has already been mentioned, but in several cases where reliance in placed on raw materials imported from overseas or shipped from southern ports, the position is becoming so acute that factories will either have to work short time or else close down till fui thei supplies are available. The transport industry has already been affected and. with wholesalers and retailers clamouring for certain lines of goods, the position is becoming daily more serious. POSITION IN MASTERTON. CONCERN OVER SHORTAGE OF SUPPLIES. “Like all other manufacturers we are concerned about supplies," stated the manager of Hansell Laboratories Ltd, this morning. "As the result of the strike,” he added, “we are experiencing difficulty in obtaining sufficient ingredients to meet the demand for jelly crystals. We have, however, several tons on order and these should reach us next week."