CONTAINERS INQUIRY Fed. Farmers’ submission

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32661, 17 July 1971, Page 1

CONTAINERS INQUIRY Fed. Farmers’ submission

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 16.

The attitude of fear among employer groups could lead to “a lack of frankness” in the submissions and evidence brought before the Royal Commission on Containers, Federated Farmers asserted today.

In Its submission, presented by the Dominion President (Mr A C. Begg) Federated Farmers contended that employer groups might not be willing to say publicly that they were opposed to the taking over by waterside workers of the work of storemen and packers. The federation cited particularly those employers who were in direct contact with waterside workers, or the movement of whose goods depended on waterside workers.

The federation asked the commission to consider, therefore, the advisability of having confidential discussions with some employers to remove them from the atmosphere of fear and intimidation which public discussion could cause.

STOREMEN AND PACKERS

The federation submitted that the members of the Storemen and Packers’ Union who had been, and were at present, packing and unpacking containers off the waterfront could best continue the work efficiently and economically. Should waterside workers take over this work, there would be a “deterioration in efficiency and economy.” Guidelines laid down on the matter by the Federation of Labour executive illustrated only the thinking of that federation.

"They have no judicial force and to attempt to give

them such determining force is contrary to natural justice. “The executive of the F.O.L. must naturally be responsive to the power fac-. tlons within its natural structure.” The federation had been told by consolidators during Employers’ Federation discussions that “if the rates and conditions of waterside workers were applied to work in consolidating depots, the labour cost would multiply threefold,” Mr Begg said.

“THREATENING ASPECT” Although waterside workers and freight forwarders had negotiated a figure for this work which was less than for waterside work, many employers considered that the

union agreed to the figure only to ensure that its members took over work in consolidating depots, said Federated Farmers. “The waterside workers have given every indication, however, that once inside the depots they would use their full industrial strength in order to ensure that waterfront pav and conditions should apply in these depots.” The spreading of maritime pay and conditions to other sectors of the industry was one of the most threatening aspects of the move. "Over the years, the waterside workers have, through militant tactics, been able to obtain terms and conditions which are greatly in excess of those obtained in industry outside the waterside areas. Unless cost reductions in marketing, handling, and transporting wool could be found—and successfully implemented—there was a grave danger that wool would become uneconomic for many New Zealand growers, Mr Begg said. WOOL INTERESTS

Mr M. J. Slessor, shipping manager for the Wool Board, said wool interests believed that containers would require , a radical change in wool > handling methods. i This change might be more, radical than desirable, i compared with unit loading i of wool on a large scale. The Wool Board had been f advised of various costings regarding the different sysI terns of packing containers ■ but had not been in a posi- > tion to study or confirm them. The board believed that, basically, wool should be . consolidated at central woolj dumping facilities “where it can be aggregated to shipi pers’ bill of lading quantities .to obtain the door-to-door ; principle of containerisation.” , The handling of dumped bales into containers followed \ as part of the normal store function. “To obtain the maximum ' benefit from containerisation, wool should ideally be packed at store on the principle of one consignment for one mill. “In the existing marketing conditions, wool from several sources has to be amalgamated to make one consignment,’’ said Mr Slessor. The inquiry has been adjourned until August 23.