SHIPS WORKED AT AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22271, 9 December 1937, Page 12

SHIPS WORKED AT AUCKLAND

WATERFRONT DISPUTE SETTLED AGREEMENT AFTER CONFERENCE WEN ENGAGED ON TWENTYFOUR VESSELS tTRSS3 ASSOCIATION TBLBORAM.) AUCKLAND, December 8. The labour dispute on the Auckland waterfront was settled this morning. It ended just as suddenly as it started on Thursday night, and within a few minutes of an agreement being reached at a conference between representatives of the shipping interests and of the watersiders, the men had started accepting their engagement discs from the bureau on the central wharf, and were dispersing to their respective ships. Shortly after midday the 24 vessels in port which were affected by the dispute were working again, some of them for the first time in five days. The overhead cranes on the wharves were once more swinging the cargo out and inboard, and the waterfront was alive with working men, machinery, and trucks. Three main clauses were included in the terms of the settlement, which were accepted without comment fay the men. These terms were;—■ (1) That the bureau man the Waiana forthwith.

(2) After engagement for the Waisna has been accepted, all other ships to be manned immediately. (3) The five men who attended the Waiana on Thursday night, and also the four men who asked for leave of absence, be included in the general engagement. In addition it was decided that the Bureau Control Board, consisting of representatives of each party, should meet later to consider the position. Once work had resumed, various machinery matters arising from the agreement governing the working of the bureau were discussed. The Conference

The conference between the parties began about 8.45 a.m., and lasted more than two hours, with one adjournment to give the representatives of the watersiders, including Mr J. Roberts, secretary of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Federation, who had come up from Wellington especially to attend the conference, an opportunity of addressing the men. Mr Roberts played a prominent part in the negotiations, and once he and his colleagues had met members of the union, it did not take the conference long to reach an agreement. Captain R. S. Lewis, chairman of the Port of Auckland Shipping and Stevedores’ Association, Mr C. B. V. Wheeler, manager of the Union Steam Shin Company in Auckland, and Mr W. H. G. Bennett, representing Wellingtbn shipping interests, acted lor the employers. In addition to Mr Roberts, Mr T. Solomon (president) and. Mr R. Jones (vice-president), and Mr W. J. Cuthbert. the walking delegate, appeared for the union. Manning the Waiana

When it was decided to man the Waiana, the watersiders immediately clustered about the bureau, and accepted discs for the ship without any further reluctance. As soon as the Waiana was manned, all other ships needing labour were provided with their requirements immediately, and work was resumed generally at 1 o’clock. By the terms of the settlement, those men who refused to work the Waiana on Thursday night were not included in the general engagement. Their position was discussed in the afternoon at a meeting of the Bureau Control Board, and arrangements were made, after a long discussion, for them to return to work. While the meeting was being held, the men waited outside the bureau, and anxiously questioned their representatives whenever they appeared outside, in dicating clearly that they were ready to return to work. Beyond remarking that the settlement had been reached quite amicably, Mr Roberts declined to make any statement about the dispute. “The agreement is satisfactory to both sides, said Mr Solomon. “We still think that we have been acting in a proper manner in the circumstances, although it has been obvious that there have been faults on each side. The employers should not have hung out the engagement discs at three minutes to 10 when, by the rules of the bureau, all employment must bo made between the hours of eight and 10. In this cose labour was called for ttuee big ships, when it was perfectly clear that the men could not be engaged m the three minutes in hand. The fault on our side was in accepting engagement discs under those conditions. The result of the negotiations this morning cannot be called!a vlc ‘ l o r yJ°J the employers, because the settlement was equally satisfactory to us.'