DISMISSAL OF WATERSIDERS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14570, 14 January 1948, Page 3

DISMISSAL OF WATERSIDERS

(P.A.)

LEFT WORK BEFORE TIME

Three Ships Affected In . Wellington

Previous Warnings To Men

Unheeded

Wellington, Jan. 13

Between 100 and 120 watersiders were dismissed from their jobs on overseas ships in Wellington today on the ground that they left work before finishing time. The dismissals involve three ships, the Empire Star, the Glenpark and the Ottawa Valley. The Wellington branch of the Waterside Workers’ Union will consider tomorrow what action it will take.

If the ships are declared “black,” then neither union nor non-union labour will be available, and their sailing will be indefinitely delayed. Action was taken by the employers late this afternoon. Between 40 and 50 men working on the Glenpark at Aotea Quay were reported to have left their jobs at 4.30 p.m., ten minutes before the correct finishing time, A similar breach was alleged against gangs on the Empire Star, totalling between 60 and 70 men, and against one gang working on the Ottawa Valley of between 10 and 12 men.

A decision was reached late last year by the Pert Committee restricting spelling on the waterfront to the half-hour “smoko” periods in the morning and afternoon. Union officials are stated to have favoured the elimination of abuses of spelling. Since then, just before and since the holidays, the employers have issued warnings that if these abuses continued the men' would be dismissed from their jobs and stood down in terms of the Port Committee’s decision.

These warnings have gone unheeded by many, according to the employers, and some men are'stated to have left their jobs at 11 o’clock in the morning. It was claimed that on one of the vessels concerned today the men met and decided to finish early. When the men were dismissed from the Glenpark they refused to close the hatches, and it is reported that the seamen also refused to carry out this work. A stopwork meeting of the union is set down for Thursday, but it is likely that one will be called tomorrow to consider the policy on today’s large-scale dismissals.