CARPENTERS HOLD PARADE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25736, 23 February 1949, Page 4

CARPENTERS HOLD PARADE

Auckland Men Attend Mass Meetings

STATE OFFICES BESIEGED (P.A.) AUCKLAND. February 22. After a mass meeting in the Town Hall about 700 of Auckland’s dismissed carpenters marched down Queen street and up to Albert Park this morning. They then packed into the Social Security Department’s office in High street to enrol for unemployment benefits. Later, some of them went to the Labour and Employment Department’s office in Queen street to register xor direction to jobs. Some were given work, but others were refused jobs by the firms to which they were sent as unskilled labourers. About 1200 carpenters went to the meeting, which lasted for more than two hours. The national secretary of the Carpenters’ Union (Mr R. Stanley) was one of the principal , speakers, and he traced the history of the dispute with the builders. Later. several resolutions were passed, but there was no sign of a move to withdraw the go-slow policy which led to the carpenters’ dismissal last Thursday. The approved of the holding of a meeting of unionists' wives to-morrow morning. A proposal to hold a mass stop-work meeting of unionists connected with the building trade in Carlaw Park on Wednesday morning of next week, was endorsed. March to Albert Park When the meeting ended, just before 10.45 o’clock, about 700 men lined up, three abreast, outside the Town Hall. A number of the carpenters had drifted out of the meeting and had dispersed more than half an hour beforehand.

A large canvas sign was raised at the head of the procession, and many of the rank and file were armed with placards, drawing attention to the union’s grievances. The parade marched quietly down Queen street, and the men continued on to Albert Park. There they rested and whiled away the time with community singing. while their leaders visited the Social Security Department’s office and discussed the question of unemployment benefits for the men with the registrar (Mr H. M. Chambers). About 15 minutes later, the leaders arrived at the park, and Mr Stanley briefly addressed the men. Mr Stanley said that the union officials intended to communicate with the Minister oi Social Security (Mr W. E. Parry) and the Federation of Labour immediately, and demand that the men should be paid unemployment benefits. Mr Stanley asked the carpenters to go to the Social Security Department’s office and register, and then to go to the Labour office to comply with requirements. Extra staff was taken from other sections to cope with the unprecedented rush at the unemployment benefits counter in the Social Security Department’s office. The men swarmed into the building after they left the park, and packed the stairs to the third floor. Policemen acted as ushers, and kept the crowd in orderly lines on the stairway. . / Employers Refuse Jobs There was barely standing space in the small room, where eight men and women handed out and collected registration forms, as the men milled round the counter. The room was busier than a city bar at a rush hour. About half an hour after it began, the • rush was over, as many of the men decided to take their forms away and return them later, rather than wait.

The invasion of the Social Security Department’s office was repeated on a smaller scale at the Labour office in Civic House. Men began to arrive there soon after midday, and a specially organised staff was ready to cope with them. The men were marshalled on the stairway and the first floor, where they registered for employment. All were posted to unskilled workers’ jobs in a variety of industries. The largest number were sent to the Westfield freezing works. Carpenters continued to arrive at the Labour office throughout the afternoon. and by the end of the day more than 200 had registered. Many, however, had come back a second time. They said they had been refused work by the employers to whom they were sent. Those who returned early in the afternoon were sent to other jobs, but those who went back later were not. It was not known to-day how many carpenters had been given employment. Mr Stanley left Auckland during the afternoon to address a unionist meeting at Mangakino. He is expected to address a meeting of the Wellington branch of Carpenters’ Union tomorrow night.