Unions Attack Cement Delays

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30471, 19 June 1964, Page 3

Unions Attack Cement Delays

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, June 18.

The Auckland Carpenters’ Union is seeking an assurance from the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Marshall) that its members will not lose their jobs because of the present cement shortage.

The union has also asked the Government to investigate reports that cement silos at the Onehunga and Napier wharves are full..

Mr A. Ruse, secretary of the union, said that the Government was further asked to ensure that this shortage was not used as an excuse to increase the cost of cement to the building industry. In Wellington the secretary of the Federated Seamen’s Union (Mr L. A. Barber) said today that while . a cement company sought to import 10,000 tons of cement into New Zealand, ships were idle at Auckland waiting to discharge locally-produced cement.

. To suggest that New Zealand should spend £llO,OOO of

overseas exchange while ships had to wait for a silo to empty before discharging cement appeared to indicate a serious lack of national interest by the company concerned, he said.

“While one firm talks of a shortage of bagged cement in Auckland, another firm has a bulk supply of 2000 tons at Onehunga at this moment,” he said.

“The firm complaining about the shortage has bagging facilities which are suffering from a cement shortage from their own operations. The bulk supplier at Onehunga has no bagging facilities.

“On three voyages from Westport, the cement ship, Guardian Carrier, has been held up at Onehunga. “She arrived at Onehunga on May 8, and had to wait for eight days while the full silos emptied enough for her to discharge her cargo. She spent five days there from May 25, and another four days there from June 2 for the same reason.” The ship need spend no more than 24 hours in port to load and discharge, he said. Company Replies But in Auckland this evening New Zealand Cement Holding Ltd., the bulk supplier at. Onehunga, denied allegations made by the seamen’s union. There was no delay, the company said, in distributing cement from the Onehunga silos. Neither had the Guardian Carrier ever had to delay discharge until the silos emptied sufficiently to take more cement.

The company said that the ship had been held at Onehunga only to make repairs and additions to the crews’ quarters to bring them up to New Zealand requirements. The ship is on charter from Britain.

The two Onehunga silos, the company said, held 4500 tons of cement and took about four shiploads to fill. The cement was moving from the silos to customers at a rate of about 800 tons a week. . The allegation by the Carpenters’ Union that a loaded cement boat was being held at Westport was also denied by the company. The Guardian Carrier was in Westport waiting to start loading. It had only moved to a loading berth this afternoon. The ship would be in Onehunga on Sunday. An Invercargill message says that a consignment •of 100 tons of Southland cement is being loaded at Bluff today for shipment to Auckland. Inquiries for orders ranging from 200 tons to 500 tons have been received in Southland from Auckland, Whakatane and Hamilton.