BEER BOYCOTT ON WEST COAST

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25307, 6 October 1947, Page 8

BEER BOYCOTT ON WEST COAST

TIMBER WORKERS SUPPORT ACTION From Our Own Reporter GREYMOUTH. October 5. The West Coast beer boycott continues to be as thorough as it was earlier. It is reported that for all practical purposes, the sale of beer has ceased in hotels in some mining townships. It is also reported that hotelkeepers in Kumara are still charging 6d. and a spokesman for the Trades Council said it had not been necessary to impose the boycott there. Though no official action has been taken by the Timber Workers’ Union, he said, timber workers were supporting the boycott in areas where it had been imposed. He said there had been no reports of any weakness in any area. The Trades Council had made arrangements to receive immediate re--1 arts, and if there was any weakness, steps would be taken. The Trades Counqil claimed that the general public, as well as unionists, had joined in the boycott, he said. It was claimed that hotelkeepers, in entering the fight, had overlooked 'three important factors —first, the general resentment of the public to the imposition of an additional penny for a small glass of beer; second, the traditional solidarity of West Coast workers; and third, the existence of a strong and virile Trades Council through which strength unions could be coordinated. On the other hand, hotelkeepers, with one exception, remained solidly behind their decision to carry out the price fixation laws which, it is claimed, provides for the increase. EXTENSION OF BOYCOTT AREA <PA.) GREYMOUTH, October 5. The boycott of the hotels at which the price of beer was raised to 7d last Wednesday is extending in the Greyxnouth and neighbouring districts Miners’unions endorsing the boycott include Burke’s Creek, Reefton. WaiUta, Ikamatua. Dobson. Wallsend. Runanga. and Blackball. Other unionists participating include watersiders, Greage and timber workers, and railway men.