UNIONS OBJECT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 194, 17 August 1932, Page 8

UNIONS OBJECT.

HOTEL BUILDING DELAYED. QUESTION OF OVERTIME. PROPOSAL FOR TWO SHIFTS. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) NAPIER, this day. An obstacle raised bf the Wellington ; headquarters of a number of trade unions will prevent the completion of the new Criterion Hotel by Christmas. With less than five months of the year left it wae proposed to employ two shifts per day from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the construction of the building, and 1 application was made to six unions to waive the provision in the awards of the Wellington district, of which Hawke's Bay is a part, that overtime must be paid for hours outside the limits of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Of six unions, two controlled directly in Hawke's Bay were willing to agree to the proposal, but the other four, each of which has ite headquarters in Wellington, refused. One union pointed out the danger of creating a precedent, and another made it clear that any employer or employee who agreed would be liable to prosecution for a breach of award. "Four officers are emphatic in stating that the proposal cannot be entertained," was the; definite reply of a third. The owners of the new hotel, who today let a contract for £19,000 for its construction, have no alternative but to work only one shift daily despite the fact that Napier has 1200 registered unemployed, the majority of whom are artieans, who could accept employment that wouifi be offering if two shifts were worked. ! lbs attitude of the Wellington head- ' quarters of the unions' has caused some feeling, especially as many of the men themselves axe ■willing to work their \ eight hours at any time of the day in warn farnnediat* employment.