WATERFRONT DISPUTE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 55, 14 December 1946, Page 2

WATERFRONT DISPUTE

LABOUR FEDERATION AND UNION DISCUSSION NEXT WE^K (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Dec. 13. The meeting of the Waterfront Industry Commission set down for Monday had been postponed indefinitely by the chairman (Mr Justice Ongley). It is considered that the Commission is unlikely to sit before the Federation of Labour and the Waterside Workers’ Union have discussed the situation. Commenting on the postponement, the president of the National Watersiders’ Union (Mr H. Barues) said it appeared that the employers were not anxious to meet the watersiders. “If that is the case, I do not think they will find the union very anxious to meet them either,” he said. The national executive of the union has accepted the invitation from the Federation of Labour to discugs the waterfront dispute with the object of attempting to reach a basis of settlement. The parties will meet in Wellington next week. “The federation has asked the union to talk the matter over, and we are going to do so,” said Mr Barnes. The union’s claims, the decision of Mr Justice Ongley, and the general background of the dispute would be discussed, he added.

DIVERSION FROM AUCKLAND SIX SHIPS DURING WEEK-END (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Dec. 13. Two move overseas ships, the passenger motor-ship Waiwera and the food ship, Port Wellington, were today diverted from the port of Auckland. Their diversion brought the week’s total of diverted ships to six, probably the most wholesale alteration ; in the time-tables in the port’s history. The 12,000-ton Waiwera was due on ' Monday with 120 passengers from Lon- • don, but she has been instructed to ; proceed to Wellington where her 2200 ' tons of general cargo for Auckland will • be landed for transhipment. It is ex- > pected that the accumulation of coastal p cargoes may delay the arrival of the, complete Auckland shipment for some ; weeks, and it is possible that the move - may take as long as the voyage from , London to Wellington. The Port Wellington, which will ’ leave Brisbane to-morrow, continuing • her maiden voyage from England, has been advised to steam to Lyttelton instead of Auckland. She was to have loaded 100,000 boxes of butter and ! 50,000 freight carcases of meat here. An Auckland freezing works official said there was no congestion of meat in the works, and added that it was ' ironical that ships sent from Australia because of the shortage of meat cargoes there should meet difficulties, on this side of the Tasman. The drastic action of omitting Auckland from the time-tables of six large ships has given some relief to the congestion. The departure for New Plymouth to-day of the food ship Paparoa and the berthing to-morrow of the Sydney Star will leave only one overseas ship, the Kaimata, at anchor. Unless further alterations are made, only two more large vessels, the Narbada from Calcutta and Colombo, and the liner Jtangitiki, from Wellington, will arrive next week. Three English thoroughbred mares brought from England by the Kaimata, which arrived in the stream on Thursday, were brought ashore this morning by the Auckland Harbour Board’s floating crane Mahua. This course was dictated by the fact that the motorship will be unable to berth until after the holidays, and the mares, which are In foal, need attention and exercise. They were inspected by an inspector of the Department of Agriculture before their crates were picked up by the crane from the deck of the Kaimata and lowered on to the Mahua. The labour shortage has grown more serious in the last few days. The very large number of ships to be handled has completely drained the available supply of union and non-union workers, and to-day 142 men were needed to fill vacancies in ship’s gangs. The coastal steamers Omana and Kaimiro’ and the overseas vessel Comlebank were among the ships affected by the shortage. No start will be made until Monday or Tuesday in the discharge of *463S sacks of potatoes brought from Timaru to Auckland by the Omana. After being held by congestion at a tyingup berth since Monday night, the Omana moved to a discharging berth to-day. Only two gangs were available to handle the cargo and as she was loaded at Lyttelton after leaving Timaru, this consignment must be landed before the deeper-stowed potatoes are reached. The potatoes have now been in the ship for about three weeks and it is feared that losses through decay must occur.