FREEZING WORKS IDLE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27896, 18 February 1956, Page 8

FREEZING WORKS IDLE

Five Stoppages In South Island FAIRFIELD PLANT TO RESUME Five freezing works in the South Island were idle by yesterday afternoon. Two are in Canterbury. Work ceased at the Fairfield works of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company about the middle of yesterday morning, and at noon slaughtermen stopped work at the Canterbury works at Belfast of Thomas Borthwick and Sons (Australasia), Ltd. Killing will resume again at Fairfield this morning. “Generally the position is very unsettled because f the widespread discontent at the employers’ reaction to what the men consider rightful claims in respect of various classes of stock,” said the secretary of the Canterbury Freezing Workers’ and Related Trades Union. Mr H. G. Kilpatrick, last evening. “Hourly workers are very discontented at their rates of pay. particularly those in departments where little overtime is offering.” The South Island manager of Thomas Borthwick and Sons (Australasia), Ltd., Mr A. I. Guild, said late yesterday afternoon that when about 70 slaughtermen at Belfast ceased work at noon yesterday they indicated that they would not work in the afternoon or this morning. The men had refused to handle lambs which had been dagged on the chain, and they stopped work when about 49 of these lambs had accumulated for dressing. Mr Guild said that the award under which the men worked provided that shorn or crutched lambs or sheep should not be slaughtered within three weeks of shearing or crutching. It also provided that the employer should supply sufficient staff to dag lambs or sheep before the dressing process began. The men had claimed that these lambs were crutched. Mr Guild said that there had been no negotiations between the company and the union since the stoppage and there was no indication when work would resume. When slaughtering stopped other workers had no alternative but to stop work when clearing up ceased, said Mr Guild, but some workers would not finish up until today. There are about 450 on the staff at the works. Workers* View There was provision for stock to be dagged. but the workers claimed that what was being done was crutching. said Mr Kilpatrick, commenting on the stoppage. The men were willing to do the work at rate and a half, but the company was not prepared to pay rate and a half, so work had stopped. Asked about the possibilities of a resumption of work, Mr Kilpatrick said: “That depends entirely on the employers.”

Killing ceased at the Fairfield works of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company at about 10.15 a.m. yesterday, but according to information given by the general manager of the company, Mr R. D. Iles, killing will resume again at the works today. He said that the stoppage was caused by difficulties in the gut house over the handling of sheep paunches, which were large. The gut house hands could not keep up with the flow of paunches coming from the slaugh-ter-house. and. as a result, there was a hold-up in killing. The gut house men refused the comoanv’s offer to pay waiting time until the position was cleared and decided to cease work. Killing therefore stopped, but it would be resumed at 8 a.m. today. Mr Kilpatrick said the work at Fairfield had stopped just after 10 a.m.. because of the full condition of sheep put up for killing straight off the paddock. They were in a condition which made it virtually impossible to handle them efficiently and effectively on the gut table, where the work had broken down. The secretary of the Fairfield branch of the Canterbury Freezing Workers’ and Related Trades Union

(Mr P. C. Brown) said yesterday that the complaint about stock arriving at the works in full condition was an old one. No work was done yesterday at the company’s works at Pareora, as the works picnic will be held today, and it is the usual practice not to kill on the day preceding the picnic, so that w’ork can be cleared up in as many departments as possible, and the maximum number of men are free to attend the picnic. At the Burnside works of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, where work ceased on Wednesday, the company had given notice that all concessions allowed in recent years had been withdrawn, said Mr Kilpatrick. Labourers at Mataura had refused to work overtime until they received a favourable answer to their demand for a 6d an hour wage increase. The company had replied by not offering stock for slaughtering. It was possible that this matter might be resolved at a full branch meeting on Monday morning, said Mr Kilpatrick. At the Makarewa works work had stopped about the middle of Thursday morning over the company’s refusal to pay penalty rates for shortcrutched stock. The latest information indicated that the company’s assurance that it would not put up short-crutched stock might result in work being resumed on Monday morning. if this matter was removed from the area of dispute and provided satisfactory agreement was reached on the method of counting stock on which penal rates were payable.