UNION ALLEGES LOCK-OUT

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25555, 24 July 1948, Page 6

UNION ALLEGES LOCK-OUT

Holding that certain hatches did not comply with the .regulations, Mr T. Hill (general secretary of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union), who arrived in Lyttelton on Thursday, announced yesterday morning that he would take the matter up immediately with the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) and the chairman of the Waterfront Industry Commission [Judge J. D. Dalglish). He claimed that the employersnad locked out the waterfront workers.

‘The employers in New Zealand are following a policy of disruption in industry,” Mr Hill said. “This demands the immediate attention of the Government in general and of the Minister of Labour (the Hon. A. McLagan) in particular. The marked readiness to impose penalties on waterside workers should apply as well to employers. “Under the Strike and Lock-out Emergency Regulations a lock-out by the employers provides for certain

penalties, and I demand that those penalties be imposed on the employers in this case for causing an industrial hold-up. My organisation has no love for these regulations or for any other regulations that penalise the workers for taking industrial action, but as these regulations are the law they should apply impartially. The creation of industrial trouble by the employers at Lyttelton during the last week requires a complete investigation by the Government.” The claims of waterside workers that the disposition and nature of deck cargo on the Fort Michipicoten, together with the condition of the hatches themselves, made manual lifting unsafe, had full agreement from Mr Hill. He saw a demonstration of hatch lifting. “The action of the employers is sheer provocation,” said Mr Hill. As he left the ship, Mr Hill said to the workers; “It looks as if you may be on the grass for a while.”