Support For Timber Workers’ Officials

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32073, 22 August 1969, Page 22

Support For Timber Workers’ Officials

(New Zealand Press Association)

ROTORUA, August 21.

More than 100 Forest Service employees at the Waipa State mill and Kaingaroa Forest have supported the national executive of the Timber Workers’ Union and have agreed to continue working in spite of efforts to force the resignations of the union’s officials.

At meetings yesterday, 50 members of the union employed in the workshops at Waipa and Kaingaroa dissociated themselves from the breakaway group, and about 65 union members working in

Waipa’s logging division did the same. They declared their support for the unions’ national secretary, Mr R- C. Hamilton, its national president, Mr L. Cooper, and the secretary of the South Auckland branch, Mr R. A. Rogers. This was said today by Mr F. W. Martin, manager of the two workshops, and Mr C. B. Scammell logging officer for the Waipa logging divirion. Messrs Hamilton, Cooper and Rogers have been facing repeated demands for their resignations from members of the Kaingaroa and Murupara sub-branches.

Today, they agreed to attend a mass stop-work meeting of N.Z. Forest Products employees at Kinleith. About 500 Forest Products employees were present,- and 120 of the Kaingaroa and Murupara timber workers who demonstrated outside the union’s office in Rotorua on Tuesday were also at the meeting. Work at Kaingaroa Logging Company has been halted by the series of stop-work meetings since Tuesday morning. The Tasman Pulp and Paper Company’s mills at Kawerau will be able to continue for only a “few days” if the unofficial strike by the timbermen continues.