WATERFRONT STRIKE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28821, 16 February 1959, Page 10

WATERFRONT STRIKE

Work To Resume Today (New Zeaiana Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 15. Work on the waterfronts at Auckland- Wellington, Whangarei and Tauranga—the ports affected by the union's two-day strike—will be resumed at 8 a.m. tomorrow. The stoppage cost Wellington watersiders £7500 in wages and Auckland unionists lost £4OOO. The cost to employers was said to be "many, many thousands." Both employers and union representatives said tonight they expected no trouble tomorrow morning and that work would be as usual. Meanwhile, a '’leading shipowners’ representative accused the Seamen’s Union of “a breach of the award” in refusing to load passengers' cars and some classes of mail on inter-island steamers on Friday and yesterday. The two-day stoppage was, according to union spokesmen, in protest against the attitude of the port employees’ representatives during conciliation proceedings. The workers are claiming a wage increase of 9d an hour.

Mr T. G. Wells, president of the Wellington Amalgamated Waterside Workers Union, said tonight he did not expect any trouble tomorrow. "It is our intention to start work at 8 a.m./ unless there is any impediment," he said. “I expect there will be a normal resumption unless the waterfront industries take some action in the form of a stoppage.” Mr V. P. Blakeley, of the Port Employers’ Association, said there was no question of suspending the watersiders when they return. “In our view, the men shouldn’t have stopped Work in the first place and the sooner they get back to work the better.” he said. Mr Blakeley said the employers still wanted the .Government to take action because "something has to be done to prevent a repetition of this sort of thing.” Fish Cargo Dumped (hew Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Feb. 15. A large quantity of rotten fish was dumped back • into Cook Strait this afternoon after going bad in the holds, of the coastal freighter Towai, one of many ships idled by the waterfront dispute. The Towai, which had brought the fish from Nelson, left her berth at 2 p.m., dumped the cargo, and returned at 4.30 p.m. The ship was accompanied by hordes of screaming seagulls. 7 Lyttelton Union To Meet The president of the Lyttelton Waterside Workers’ Union (Mr Thread well) said that a meeting, of the local union would be'held this week, but in the meantime work would proceed as usual inter-island steamer, Maori, arrived at Lyttelton on Saturday morning, she still had on board cargo, including 240 cases of stone fruit and a quantity of frozen poultry, which had been loaded at Lyttelton on Thursday. The fruit and'poultry were discharged and taken back to Christchurch.