Tug Engineers Back At Work Tomorrow

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 1

Tug Engineers Back At Work Tomorrow

The tug and dredge engineers’ strike is over, the Press Association reports.

Most of the 42 men from the nine New Zealand ports affected by the eight-day-old stoppage will return to work tomorrow morning. The rest will be at work by Monday.

Yesterday the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand) appointed an independent arbitrator. Mr C. H. Benney, a former Under-Secretary of Mines, to hear both sides in the dispute in Wellington on December - 7 and 8.

Both the secretary of the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers—to which the 42' men belong—and the president of the Harbour Boards’ Association, were relieved that the strike was coming to an end. Mr C. Harnett, the institute’s secretary, said yesterday in Auckland: “I feel as though we are getting somewhere. I think the men are quite satisfied and hope that the case to be presented by the executive in Wellington will be successful.”

Mr R. C. F. Savory, the association’s president, said: “This is excellent news. I am particularly pleased. It is a good job it is going to be resolved.” To Accept Decision

In the Minister’s notice, which both parties have to sign, it is stated that both sides will give a written undertaking that they will accept the decision of the arbitrator on wages and that if he has any recommendation to make they will consider it more fully at a later stage. “Normal working is to resume on Friday wherever possible and in any case not later than Monday morning,” the notice says. The men will not continue their earlier overtime ban.

The strike, the first in 50 years by the institute, has cost the men nearly £9OO between them in basic wages. The ports affected by the

stoppage are Auckland, Bluff, Dunedin, Timaru, Lyttelton, Nelson, Napier, Tauranga and Wanganui. The tug Lyttelton can start work in an hour, according to engineers employed by the Lyttelton Harbour Board. The tug. which is under steam in case it is required for firefighting, will only need warming up. Dispute Issue

The problem behind the dispute, according to the Lyttelton engineers, is the difference in their own basic wages and those of fitters and boilermakers employed by shore engineering firms who do repair work aboard ships at Lyttelton. Engineers who have worked many years to obtain their certificates say they have a right to a higher rate. A chief engineer aboard a Lyttelton tug or dredge receives a basic hourly rate of Us 6d and a second engineer receives 10s 7 id, while shore fitters and boilermakers receive 10s 4d. Comparing the rates, the board’s engineers say there is insufficient compensation for study, certificates and skill.

When the vessels are under overhaul much of the work by shore labour is indirectly supervised by the board’s engineers.

The tug engineers work long hours, depending on the volume of shipping and the need for tugs. Sometimes they rise at 3 a.m. and finish at 11 p.m. Large earnings by tug en-

gineers are attributed to long hours of overtime, at a rate not much more than basic. The engineers lose considerable leisure time and home life, although some relief is provided by dredge engineers they say. Because the conditions are unattractive, the Harbour Board is unable to find other relief engineers. Taken By Pilot*

Four vessels were piloted out of Lyttelton yesterday without tugs by three Lyttelton Harbour Board pilots. The weather, which had delayed two ships the previous evening, had improved. Lyttelton calls for piloting skill because of its limited space. Apart from when Captain L. W. Davis brought the Karamu into a berth on Monday, this was the first time that Lyttelton pilots had handled ships since the engineers’ strike began on Wednesday last week. The secretary of the Merchant Service Guild (Captain J. W. Dickinson) said in Wellington yesterday that no further message had been sent to harbour pilots since a telegram last week advised them to use their discretion regarding the handling of ships without tugs where there was an element of danger. The Crusader and Porthos were taken out early yesterday morning, the Piako just before noon, and the Tjitarum in the afternoon.