HOTEL BAN AT WELLINGTON

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27075, 25 June 1953, Page 8

HOTEL BAN AT WELLINGTON

Some Takings Fall Alarmingly COUNTER MOVE BY OWNERS (From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 24. The blacklisting of 12 hotels m Wellington and the Hutt Valley, which has now operated for a fortnight, has been so effective that there have been alarming declines in some bar takings. It was stated today that the takings of one of the smaller hotels affected by the boycott were down by as much as £7OO a week, and other hotels probably show ever larger reductions. To counteract the effect of the boycott. a meeting of hotel proprietors and' brewery interests in Wellington this afternoon decided that as from tomorrow supplies of draught beer will be rationed to hotels that have not been blacklisted. From tomorrow these hotels will receive only the normal quantity of draught beer with which they were supplied before the boycott. The purpose of this rationing is to dissuade regular customers of blacklisted hotels from frequenting hotels that do not come under the ban. The proprietor of one hotel not on the black list said , today that the consumption of draught beer in his public bars had increased during the last fortnight from 1500 gallons a week to 3000 gallons a week. This is common to other hotels not on the black list. While the boycott is detrimentally affecting the 12 boycotted hotels it is reaping a harvest for the others.

One result of tomorrow’s rationing is that in at least one Wellington hotel draught beer will not be served in the public bars between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., although bottled beer and spirits will still be on sale. No jars will be filled until further notice. Basis of Boycott The present boycott was imposed on June 10, after a stop-work meeting of about 500 barmen in Wellington. It stems from the recent wage hearing between the New Zealand Hotel Workers’ Union and the employers. In conciliation the employers offered a wage increase of 5s a week, but this was rejected by the union, which claims a rise of 10s a week. The conciliation proceedings broke off on June 5 and have not been resumed. Soon after the conciliation proceedings ceased, a ban was put on hotels in both Auckland and Wellington, but it was lifted after two days. Then further stop-work meetings a fortnight ago reimposed the ban, which has been operating ever since. All 12 blacklisted hotels in Wellington are under the management of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd. These hotels are the Waterloo. Albion, Pier, Empire, Duke of Edinburgh, Royal, Cambridge, Wellington, and Carlton, as well as the Victoria in Petone and the Central in Lower Hutt. The twelfth hotel is the Royal Oak. Both the Waterloo and the Royal Oak are among New Zealand’s few maximum grade hotels. The hotels mainly affected by the boycott in Wellington are those in industrial areas and along the waterfront. There has been no picketing of hotels, and no incidents have been reported. To a casual onlooker the only effect is a marked thinning out of the numbers patronising the bars in these hotels. Trade unionists in Wellington have been advised to observe the boycott, and householders in some parts of the city have received cyclostyled notices asking them not to patronise these hotels. Rise in Wasted Beer When the boycott was imposed barmen pledged, themselves to see that the full Price Tribunal measure of 9oz was given to each customer. They also decided to tell their employers that after-hour trading would be suspended for the duration of the dispute. Part-time barmen, who are one of the major issues in the present dispute, have been asked to retire gracefully, with the promise that they will be reinstated when the dispute is settled. One publican sajd today that in their zeal to fill glasses to the brim some barmen were spilling large quantities of beer, and his wastage figures had risen considerably. Officials of the Wellington Hotel Workers’ Union would not comment today on the boycott, saying that all inquiries had to be directed to the president of the Federation of Labour (Mr F. P. Walsh), who was not available for an interview. Individual hotel proprietors were most reticent, and referred all inquiries to an officer of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd. In turn, this officer said that the only person qualified to comment was the president of the New Zealand Licensed Victuallers’ Association (Mr F. Drewitt). Mr Drewitt was not available for an interview tonight.

AUCKLAND BAN MOVED

NOW APPLIED TO 17 OTHER HOTELS (New Zealand Press Assoctatioif) AUCKLAND. June 24. Auckland barmen at a stop-work meeting today lifted the ban on 10 Dominion Breweries hotels and placed it on 17 other Auckland hotels. Nine of the 17 hotels are said to be owned by Campbell and Ehrenfried; five by New Zealand Breweries; one by Northern Properties; and two are leased. The official explanation of the change is that “the resistance to the union’s demands is coming mostly from the hotels now declared black.” Nine of the 570 barmen voted against today’s proposal. The barmen returned to work at noon. Representatives of the Hotel Workers’ Union throughout New Zealand will meet at Christchurch on Tuesday to discuss the dispute.