Islington Works Again Idle

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30275, 30 October 1963, Page 10

Islington Works Again Idle

Killing at the Islington works of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, Ltd., resumed for lhr 45min yesterday afternoon and then stopped.

About 500 men are now affected by the stoppage which began at 11 a.m. last Thursday.

The works manager, Mr H. W. Wilson, said yesterday that no killing would be carried out before Thursday morning at the earliest.

All freezing workers at Islington, he said, would report back to a mass meeting at the works at 8 am. on Thursday. Yesterday’s stoppage, after the brief resumption, was caused by a breakdown m negotiations between the Canterbury Freezing Workers' Union and the management.

Mr Wilson said the stoppage now affected all subsidiary departments at the works, rhe assistant manager of the company. Mr H. Cordery. said that by Thursday morning the works would have lost the best part of a week’s killing. The normal kill at this time of the year was more than 30.000 lambs and sheep a week. The Islington works, said Mr Cordery, were not holding any stock at the moment. Stock was down to a minimum because of the long week-end.

Mr Cordery said he thought the stoppage had not really been felt by the farmers yet. It was only really beginning to percolate through that the works were closed. The farmers, he said, were holding on to their stock. The dispute arose \ hen the secretary of the union's Islington branch. Mr D. Warren. learned that he was to lose pay for an hour and 11 minutes he took off his norma’ freezing works duties, over and above two hours granted by the company, to carry out union business. The secretary of the Canterbury Freezing Workers’ Union, Mr S. Arnst, said Mr Wilson had clouded the issue by referring to a visit of a union official from Picton to the Islington works, when the real basis was the stopping of pay of union delegates when they had discussions with their department i foremen, on the general running of the department. Mr Arnst said that Mr Wilson. in a statement in Saturday’s issue of “The Press,” mentioned a visit from a Picton union official. “This official was sent out

to the Islington works by me,” said Mr Arnst. "He was told to go to the office and make himself known to Mr Wilson. But as courtesy from one union branch secretary to another, he would naturally want to see the union’s Islington branch secretary, Mr Warren, and be shown around by him.” On the question of payment for Mr Warren while on union duties, such as showing the official round, Mr Arnst said that in this instance the other slaughtermen where Mr Warren normally worked were prepared to slow the killing chain down.

The men were also prepared to pay his loss of wages out of their own piecework pool. “This would have meant not one penny’s expense to the company,” said Mr Arnst. “The company did not pay Mr Warren for the.time he was showing the Picton union official round the Islington works. Yet the slaughtermen, on the day in question, worked half an hour longer to make up Mr Warren’s pay.” Mr Arnst said that in the 1959 Islington dispute agreement, referred to by Mr Wilson, certain procedures were set down. But the latest move by the company was. in fact, an endeavour to extend the agreement.

“Mr Warren’s pay was stopped last week by the management when he was checking the records in the casualty ward at the works He was trying to find out about the facts about a union member who was injured some time ago.” Mr Arnst said that when negotiations broke down at the Islington works yesterday. the workers stopped work and went home in protest. At the mass meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. tomorrow, the workers would hear a report. It would be based on the outcome of a freezing workers’ executive district meeting to be held today.