“FINAL STAGES OF DISPUTE”

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25085, 17 January 1947, Page 6

“FINAL STAGES OF DISPUTE”

UNION MEETING WITH CABINET (P.A.) WELLINGTON, January 16. The waterfront dispute has reached its final stages, and important announcements can be expected to-mor-row. The national council of the Waterside Workers* Union had a three-hour meeting* to-day with Cabinet, and until late to-night national officials of the union continued their talks. The Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) said no statement could yet be made. The secretary of the union (Mr T. Hill) said the national council of the union would meet to-morrow, but he expected it would be its last session. .LABOUR FEDERATION’S ATTITUDE SUPPORT BY WELLINGTON TRAMWAYMEN (P.A.) WELLINGTON, January 16. It was announced to-day that the Wellington Tramway Workers’ Union had met and carried a resolution supporting the Federation of Labour on the waterfront issue. The significance of this lies in the fact that the union is a component of the Transport Federation, which recently offered to intervene in the deadlock and take over the case of the watersiders’ union, also an affilia-, tion, with the object of reaching a settlement. At the time, there was a tendency to regard this as full support for the watersiders, with the possibilities of other transport unions becoming involved and threatening the position and the prestige of the Federation of Labour. BASIS FOR REOPENING OF NEGOTIATIONS RESOLUTIONS BY UNIONS . IN AUCKLAND (P.A.) AUCKLAND, January 16. A hint of what might be the basis on which the Waterside Workers’ Union may reopen negotiations in the dispute was given in resolutions passed by meetings of two Auckland unions last night.' These meetings urged the restoration of the clauses of the Waterfront Control Commission’s order of 1940, which the watersiders claim were abolished by the pronouncement of the chairman of the Waterfront Industry Commission (Mr Justice Ongley). These clauses, according to a resolution passed by the Auckland Plasterers' and Related Trades Union are numbers 17, 20, and 22. The resolution states that with certain exceptions, the clauses provide for the employment of a worker until the completion of the job for which he is engaged, payment of workers from the tim? they are asked to report on the job, and for the transfer of workers from one job to a new one only when no other qualified men are seeking engagement. 1 The other meeting which passed a resolution on these lines was that pf the Auckland General Labourers’ Union.