MILL STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 291, 8 December 1937, Page 8

MILL STRIKE.

NO FRESH MOVE.

CLAIMS OF WORKERS.

PROTEST AGAINST CONDITIONS ACTION BY FEDERATION ? "Unless sin early opj>ortunity is given for considering the points at issue we will have no option but to hand the dispute over to the Federation of Labour," declared the secretary of the Auckland District, Woollen Mills. Knitting Mills and Hosiery Factories Employees* l'nion, Mr. T. Long, to-day, when for the first time he made public the detailed grievances of the girl weavers at the Onehnnga woollen mills.

The mills are still idle, and no move was made to-day by either party towards a sottlement of the dispute, which involves over 100 employees.

Although a feature of the dispute 5s tho peaceful way in which the employees are conducting their strike, police at an early hour this morning advised pickets at the mill of the implications of the Police Offences Act. The Act makes liable for prosecution every person, who, with a view to compelli ig any other person to abstain from doing an act which is his legal right, wrongfully watches or besets his place of employment It is stated that the handful of men I concerned confessed ignorance of the, relevant law, and after the position hud been explained they quietly dispersed. No statement is yet forthcoming from the company's side nor apparently has any action yet been taken by the Employers' Association, m whose hands the matter has been placed by the company. On Friday, November 26, said Mr. Long, the girl weavers employed at the mill ceased work as a result of the conditions under which they were asked to work. The relationship between the weavers an<l the management had been somewhat strained over a fairly considerable numlier of months. Detailed Grievances. "In fact. It was over three months ago that I directed the attention of Mr. Ewen, of Sargood, Son and Ewen, who I understand is chairman of directors of the coi-panv, to the fact that the girls were entirely dissatisfied with tile conditionA laid down bv the management, and that trouble was likely to break out at any moment," hp added. "Apparently as a result of that the position eased somewhat until 1 had occasion to write to the manager drawing his attention to certain irregularities in jjonnection with the working conditions of some of the employees. I received a communication from the management inviting me to go out to discuss these_ matter*. That invitation I accepted, and, together with the president of the union, I waited upon the manager, of the mill.

"Within the next 48 hours 1 was able to demonstrate to the manager that his interpretation of the award relating to one of the disputed matters was wronf. This, I feel, must have somewhat ruffled hiin, and possibly the reaction was the attempt made to rearrange the work of the weavers in such a manner as to become decidedly irksome and well-nigh intolerable." -

On December 1, continued Mr. Long, he had forwarded the employees' complaints to the manager "in d' tiiil. In a covering letter he expressed the hope that a conference could be arranged at an early date with a View to the adjustment of the grievances. so that the girls miglft resume work at the earliest possible moment.

The statement of grievances' had set out tliat the weavers objected to beintr taken from blanket looms and put on tweed loom*, for the reason that blanket heaving was entirely different from tweed weaving, and the blanket weavers desired tuition I.V competent tweed weavers before accepting the responsibility of turning out satisfactory work. Further, tweed weavers being put on blanket work desired to do so on their own looms, and definitely refused to weave blankets while there was tweed to bo woven. Another grievance was that weavers were being supplied with inferior yarn, thus decreasing the earning power of the loom. This loss of earning power, it was claimed, should be allowed for. Accommodation Questions. Under the heading of general complaints the following points were put forward: Lack of proper ventilation; inadequate provision made in the washroom; lack of a cloakroom or dressing room where the girls might change their clothes in wet weather (Mr. Jx>n«explained that the mill was the best part of a half-bourn walk from Onehunga) ; lack of a suitable place where girls who were taken ill could rest and ' >e ff^. e,| ded *°S insufficient first-aid facilities, the contention l>eing made that those now provided were practically inaccessible to the staff when required.

"Efforts have been made to hrin;r the parties together," said Mr. Long, ""and the union is readjj and willing to enter into a eonfercnee at any time. According »to the Press the company has handed the matter ovei* to the Employers' Association, who have declined to enter into negotiations under Clause 13 of the award, relating to matters not provided for." This clause, explained Mr. Long, stated that anything not provided for in the award was to be mutually arranged between two representatives of the union aiid the mill manager. In the event of disagreement the matter was to be referred to a conciliation commissioner, while either party had the right of appeal to the Arbitration Court.

Referring to a published report, Mr. Lonrr denied that any roster was posted in the weaving section with his agreement. He was informed. 5n fact, that no such roster had been posted, or even drawn up. What actually happened was that he had suggested that a roster should be drawn up so that the girls might have an opportunity of getting their reasonable share of work, commensurate with their classification.