CLOSING DOWN JOBS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 June 1939, Page 6

CLOSING DOWN JOBS

IF STOP-WORK MEETING IS HELD DECISION OF WELLINGTON COMPANY. BUILDING- WORKERS’ DEMANDS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. The intention to close down all its works, including the exhibition contracts, if the workers’ proposal to hold a stop-work meeting in Wellington tomorrow is carried out, was announced by Mr James Fletcher, managing director of Housing Construction, Ltd, yesterday in commenting on the position which had arisen in connection with the building contracts being carried out by his company in Karori. where the carpenters and labourers ceased work last Thursday. “To put the position perfectly clearly, we are posting notices on all housing contracts of Housing Construction, Ltd. on all’the factories operated by Housing Construction, Ltd, and on all contracts and factories operated by the Fletcher Construction Co. Ltd, and at the exhibition site, where we are carrying out contracts in conjunction with the Love Construction Co, Ltd,” said Mr Fletcher. The notice is as follows: —

“Notice hereby given that in the event of the men employed by us absenting themselves on Wednesday morning for the purpose of attending a stop-work meeting, this job will be closed indefinitely, or till such time as the Karori jobs on which the trouble has arisen are fully manned, and assurance given .that no further stoppage of work will take place.” THE AWARD PROVISIONS. “The position is not of my company’s seeking.” said Mr Fletcher. “On Wednesday morning a request was made that a representative of the company should meet the secretary of the Carpenters’ Union and the Labourers Union on the site to discuss certain grievances that the men had. This conference took place, and the demands that were made were in connection with the supply of gumboots, or, failing the supply of gumboots, a payment of 3d an hour extra, as long as the men were working in places that were damp. “It was pointed out by the representative of my company that the conditions were not any different from those under which the carpenters had always worked in winter weather, and that full provision had been made in the recent award for the provision of gumboots when conditions warranted it, and that the company intended to stick to the award conditions. “The men decided there and then to knock off work and to hold a meeting at the Trades Hall. “Later in the day the secretary of the Carpenters’ Union, Mr James Moulton, asked if Dwould be prepared to come round and discuss the matter with the men, and I indicated my willingness to do so. “At 5 o’clock on Thursday I was ad • vised by a ring from the secretary of the Carpenters’ Union’s office to the effect that the men had decided not to go back to work and that a mass meeting, was to be held of all carpenters,-lab-ourers and other allied trades in the Trades Hall on Saturday morning.

“The published reports of the meetings clearly indicate that the question of the working conditions at Karori has no bearing on the dispute. The grievance obviously is that the labourers and carpenters’ unions are not prepared to accept the new awards which have been issued by the Court of Arbitration. This is proved also by the fact that a mass meeting has been called for Wednesday morning in Auckland, and the matters which are to be discussed are the new award and the failure of the Court to grant certain increases, the payment of holidays, and the payment for loss in wet weather. The trades unions secretaries are fully aware of the fact that they are creating a breach of the award through a stoppage of work. Theyknow they cannot have it both ways — they cannot have compulsory unionism with the benefits of the Court of Arbitration and direct action at the same time.”