The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1960. Meat Workers’ Dispute

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29234, 18 June 1960, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1960. Meat Workers’ Dispute

Because labour disputes in the export meat industry affect the Dominion’s whole economy the ban imposed by the New Zealand Federation of Labour on the loading of export meat was a matter of serious concern to all New Zealanders. The nine days’ obstruction of the flow of trade has caused losses that cannot be recovered; but it is good news that the ports and the meat industry are to work normally again. The ban was enforced when 100.000 tons of meat, or about a quarter of the Dominion’s annual export production, remained to be shipped. Exports of dairy produce were also impeded. Some ships have sailed short-loaded; supplies to new markets have been interrupted; and, according to shipping experts, the accumulation of export produce will take weeks to clear. All this has resulted from the Federation of Labour’s refusal to allow normal work while the freezing workers’ wage claim was settled by negotiation. It is impossible ,ior the public to judge

accurately the rights and wrongs of a dispute such as this; but every sensible person must deplore the interruption of work at the height of the season in a vital industry. The terms of the agreement now accepted by the unionists are practically the same as those suggested by the employers on June 3. Since then the dispute has been prolonged by complicated procedural arguments. Everybody will agree with the president of the Federation of Labour (Mr F. P. Walsh) that the loading ban was “ unnecessary ”; not everyone will accept his judgment as to where the blame should rest for the failure to use the proper legal processes for settling industrial disputes. The freezing workers’ latest grievance has overshadowed the industry for about six months. It is to be hoped that the settlement to be reached now with the help of an arbitrator (Mr S. W. Armstrong) will prove enduring and that the industry can look forward to its next season with better prospects of internal harmony.