IN CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 282, 29 November 1938, Page 10

IN CONFERENCE.

MOVE AT WESTFIELD

PARTIES TO DISPUTE.

MASS MEETINGS TO-DAY.

WORKERS REMAIN IDLE.

Althon-h the Westfield freezing works remained idle to-day, the iiutlook was brightened by an early annouiK'unu'nt that representatives of the wuikeiii and t lie management had njjrt-ed to meet immediately for a diecii»iuti of the situation.

Xo agreement on the dispute could be readied this morning, however, and it was decided to. adjourn the discussion until •& o'clock this afternoon. As u rcMilt the employees concerned in the dispute will be idle until to-morrow at least.

Alter being idle yesterday, the 800 men and women who are involved in the stoppage gathered at the works at s o'clock this morning to give further I'on.-ideiatiim to the dispute.

When this meeting had concluded it was announced that representatives of the parties would meet at 9 o'clock in eonfereiue. Another mass meeting of the employee* was arranged for noon, when the results of the conference were to be communicated to the workers.

In the meantime most of the workers left the premises and returned to their homes.

Impatient Section?

When they assembled again at midday the conference between their delegates, headed hy the union president, Mr. <!. Baker, and the management, whose representatives included the general manager of the Westrield Freezing Company, Mr. A. Ikowlaiuk, had not yet adjourned.

After ii few minutes' wait, however, the delegates arrived, and they addressed the workers for about 20 minutes. The gathering was told that the discussion* so far had failed to result in any agreement being reached, but that they would be resumed at two o'clock this afternoon, and the results would be conveyed to another ma** meeting of the employees at 8 o'clock to-morrow morn-

It is understood that impatience at the dejay in reaching a satisfactory conclusion to the dispute was expressed by a small section of the meeting, but when one man challenged this group to move a vote of no-confidence in their delegates if they thought it necessary, there was no response. The meeting wae unanimous in deciding to adjourn until tomorrow, leaving the continuation of discussions in the hands of the delegates. The workers' executive met for a quarter of an hour at the conclusion of the meeting. They preferred not to comment in detail on the morning's proceedings, since the conference had not yet concluded. Origin of Dispute. It was officially stated to-day that the Federation of Labour was not concerning itself in any way with the Westfield dispute. No outside parties, in fact, are understood to have taken any part in the developments eo far. The idleness of the works resulted from employees' dissatisfaction with the interpretation by the Arbitration Court of a clause in their award relating to the number of men to be engaged on killing chains. They claim the ruling ie not definite enough, and that the clause, which says that not more then 3.3 workers ehall be employed on any chain, k meant to apply also to the ring system in use at Westfield. The dispute directly affects only a minority of the 800 idle workers, but the others have lent their weight to the protest against the Court's ruling.