STATEMENT REFUTED.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19624, 21 May 1929, Page 11

STATEMENT REFUTED.

ENGINEER AND UNION PRESIDENT. [THE PEESS Special Service] DUXEDIN, May 20. The statement made by the president of the New Zealand Workers' Union (Mr C. E. Baldwin) to a Press reporter • last week concerning the recent enquiry into the allegations qf the union about conditions at the Waitaki hydro-electric works were referred to the Engineer-in-Charge (Mr 11. H. I'aekwood), who described Mr Baldwin's version of the finding of tlte enquiry as inaccurate in several important respects. Mr Cook, the general secretary, was present at the enquiry, he said, and admitted that the local reports on which he had based his public utterances were so unreliable that ho would take the first opportunity of correcting them, and would also return to the works for the purpose of changing the personnel of the local executive of the union. So far as he was aware, said Mr Paekwood, the first... promise had not yet been fulfilled, but the second one had been effected and drastic changes had been made in the union executive.

With regard to Mr Wotton, theformer local union secretary, who, it is alleged, was reinstated and given permanent employment in the Department, Mr Paekwood said it had been open to him-all along to resume work on condition that he resigned from the local eexcutive. He made the offer to Mr Wotton in recognition of the fact that others besides himself were equally culpable, but they carefully kept in the background and were prepared to allow Mr Wotton to accept all the blame. He eleeted, instead, to take a job in another district with no promise of permanency, direct or implied. As a mark of Departmental censure Mr Wotton was reprimanded and deprived of one week's pay. Tn conclusion Mr Paekwood added that the responsible officials of the union should be careful to ascertain the correctness or otherwise of any statements they made or repeated.