FREEZING WORKS DISPUTE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27308, 26 March 1954, Page 10

FREEZING WORKS DISPUTE

KILLING OF HEAVY SHEEP DEMAND FOR EXTRA PAY Slaughtermen at freezing works in Canterbury, Otago and Southland are refusing to handle sheep in excess of 721 b carcase weight until they are paid one and a half times the normal .rates. Confirmation of the attitude of the workers in the South Island was given yesterday by Mr H. G. Kilpatrick, national secretary of the New Zealand Freezing Workers’ Association, who said that the dispute was likely to spread to North Island sheds. The slaughtermen were asking for extra pay for slaughtering sheep well in advance of average weights, he said. In the 1952-53 season, the average weights of ewes were: Canterbury and Otago, 55.11 b; Southland, 601 b. “This matter has arisen as an award claim year in and year out, but has received little recognition from the freezing companies,” said Mr Kilpatrick. “The principle of a differential rate is already conceded in respect of boners, who receive A higher rate for boning out sheep more than 721 b in weight. Of late years, it was generally agreed that with the improvement of pastures‘and increased liming, more bigger sheqp than ever are coming forward. The . numbers are probably greater in Southland than elsewhere; and quite often slaughtermen are called upon to slaughter sheep, the live weights of which exceed 3001 b, giving a carcase weight of about 1501 b.” The whole question was first raised by negotiations at some works, and was then referred by the Freezing Workers’ Association to the employers at a national disputes committee, sitting in Wellington on March 17, said Mr Kilpatrick. “Before any trouble at all broke out at any works in the South Island, the employers rejected our claim and refused to negotiate,” he said. “That has led to the present position.” In the last few days, the slaughtermen have refused to handle the ex-cessive-weight sheep. Work has not been held up, as the companies have been drafting out. “But still a few big sheen have gone through the Works,” Mr Kilpatrick commented.