REPAIRING THE WANGANELLA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25159, 15 April 1947, Page 5

REPAIRING THE WANGANELLA

WORK MAY START TODAY

(P.A.) WELLINGTON. April 14. Work on tn« Wanganeda was not resumed to-day, and the unions have been granted an extension of time until 8 a.in. ro-morrow. in the meantime, the unions hope to be able to submit proposers wnich will be acceptable to the employers. The secretary ux the New Zealand Employers’ Federation, Mr C. G. Camp, in a letter to the Director of Employment and Labour, Mr H. L. Bocxett. said: “It is understood that the men will resume work to-morrow morning on the. Wanganella unconditionally. Employers represented by this federation are prepared to assist the Minister of Labour in the setting up of. a tribunal on the following terms and conditions: “(1) The employers will immediately proceed to nominate three persons to represent them. “(2) They desire the appointment of Mr A. M. Goulding, S.M., as chairman. “(3) All the proceedings before the tribunal shall be open to the public and to the press. “(4) The order of reference before this tribunal shall be limited strictly to the terms and conditions upon which future work on the vessel is to be carried out. “(5) Payment for work already done by boilermakers while the ship was on the reef is no longer open to discussion or consideration by the abovementioned tribunal. We art advised that if the workers have any valid claim in respect of this topic, their appropriate remedy is to commence a test action in any of the civil Courts which are open to them “Subject to these conditions being acceptable, we shall •be only too pleased to expedite the setting up of a tribunal and bring the matter to a conclusion.” Mr T. Hill, secretary of the Waterside .. orkers’ Union, and a member of the sub-committee of the unions, said the unions had agreed to resume work on the understanding that there would be a tribunal to consider: (1) Rates of pay for boilermakers while the ship was on the reef. (2) Rates of pay for workers while the ship is in dock. .He had no knowledge of conditions such as those indicated in Mr Camp’s letter to Mr Bockett. Mr James Cable, of William Cable and Company, Ltd., said men required at this stage were boilermakers, welders, and watersiders. Once the work started it should take about a week to patch the vessel up sufficiently for her transfer to the wharf. An order for steel plates for the major job had been placed in Britain in the early stages of the dispute Mr Cable said. It was originally noped that these plates would be shipped in June, but the order was cancelled when the trouble developed. There was now no certainty as to when they could be obtained.